The Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) says that there is evidence of dualism existing in Guyana and called for an end to it. Given that sugar workers’ grievances have been dealt with expeditiously, it is reasonable to expect that this standard would be upheld for all workers.
It called on the government to resolve outstanding industrial matters with similar haste.
The GTUC, in a press release, restated its support for all workers in the struggle for human and worker’s rights, equality and justice.
It reminded that under the Laws of Guyana all are equal and must be treated with identical respect and dignity and it is on these premises that their demands are made. It called on government, every union, worker, employer and member of civil society to forge this culture for national unity and development.
The GTUC has noted that the sugar workers’ struggle for the Annual Production Incentive (API) bonus had been settled by the collective bargaining process while bauxite industry workers and public servants have not enjoyed their similar right to negotiate income and benefits.
According to the GTUC, unfortunately in the case of the bauxite industry and the public service the practice of settling disputes by the collective bargaining process has eroded under successive PPP regimes.
It said that whereas the nation was not surprised with the haste the Donald Ramotar government had set about resolving the API impasse in the sugar industry, it is not unreasonable to expect identical treatment for all workers.
The GTUC said that the PPP/C’s response to industrial disputes in the public service and the four-year delay in responding to the human rights and workers’ rights violations that workers of the Bauxite Company of Guyana Incorporated (BCGI), a joint government and foreign-owned company have been subjected to has been nothing short of contempt for a section of Guyana’s workforce.
The GTUC maintained that workers irrespective of political association or identity, face the same challenges in the marketplace.
It pointed out that denying the right to collective bargaining for some workers and respecting it for others negatively impacts the quality of life for the former group who have the same financial needs as the latter.
The GTUC stated that while one may not want to come to the conclusion that it a matter of ethnic and political discrimination, unfortunately the preponderance of evidence leaves one to think nothing else, since the disparity between treatment meted out to sugar workers who are predominantly of a different ethnic group and political affiliation and who receive positive action from the government, contrasts with treatment received by other workers.
The GTUC reiterated that all doors in negotiation need to be kept open since to close them is ‘tantamount to bullyism’, and forces bauxite workers and public servants to exercise industrial action which have placed them at odds with the government.
The GTUC called on the government to respect international conventions, the Guyana constitution and laws and to work to have outstanding issues resolved.
