The Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) recently kickstarted a series of seminars aimed at fostering stronger unionism among its members and to prepare new leaders.
FITUG’s president Carvil Duncan told Stabroek News that the umbrella body is working to prepare the next generation of leaders of trade unions. “In order for the movement to survive, we have to prepare people to take over the stewardship, so when people like me [are] gone, the movement will remain strong,” he said.
FITUG held a one-day seminar in Berbice on Wednesday last at the New Amsterdam Town Hall. The seminar,
held under the theme ‘Educating our workers for stronger Unionism,’ attracted over 30 participants from West and East Berbice.
It is the first stage in the process to cultivate the next generation of FITUG leaders and over time there will be other seminars where persons will be elected by their unions to attend. It is FITUG’s expectation “that coming out of seminars of this nature, the leadership of the movement could be strengthened,” Duncan said. FITUG’s current leadership believes the federation is at a crucial time in its history. Duncan explained, “The trade union movement has been flogged for many things and if one stretches their imagination to the Caribbean, workers to some extent are looking at the trade union movement differently than they looked at it in the 30s, 40s and 50s.”
It is against this background that the federation is striving to take a more proactive approach to the way it is governed. Instead of allowing leaders to emerge as the situation and or current issues dictate, it is preparing for the future by investing in the present. “There are persons here who are full of enthusiasm and who would want to go further and would want to study more and understand what contributions they can make for the benefit of the workers,” Duncan said. FITUG is seeking to identify and facilitate such persons in their quest for a deeper and better understanding of trade unions and the role they play in Guyana.
Among the topics discussed at the seminar were: the Role of the Shop Stewards; HIV/AIDS in the Workplace; the Termination of Severance Pay and the Prevention of the Discrimination laws; and aspects of the Trade Union and Trade Union Recognition laws.
