The Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) says it is gravely concerned that the Granger administration is moving ahead with the constituting of a new trade union board without consulting with it.
In a release yesterday, FITUG stated that the procedures for the appointment of the Chairman and members of the Trade Union Recognition and Certification Board (TURCB) are clearly laid out in the Trade Union Recognition Act (TURA).
It noted that the act states in part: “the Board shall consist of seven members, each appointed by the Minister after consultations with the most representative organisations of workers and the most representative organisations of employers; three members appointed by the Minister on the nomination of the most representative organisation of workers; three members appointed by the Minister on the nomination of the most representative organisation of employers.”
FITUG says it is surprised that as the verifiable “most representative organization of workers” in the country it was not invited for consultations with respect to the appointment of former judge Claudette La Bennett as Chairman of the TURCB. FITUG said that the previous board had expired at the end of June last year and as the body which has to deal with matters related to trade union recognition and ultimate certification, FITUG said that it was expecting transparency in the appointment. It lamented that no such courtesy was extended to it.
“FITUG is now left to wonder just who will constitute the Board’s next six (6) members as it should be consulted before such appointments. There are extremely vital matters now pending for the still-to-be-appointed Board’s consideration and urgent transparency with regard to its re-establishment is crucial to labour movement democracy, the majority worker organization is contending”, the statement said.
An unnamed official lamented in the release that “the stark, impossible-to-explain-or-justify disparity in the recent 2015 Budget Estimates allocation of funding to labour organisations which saw $8,000,000 being allocated to a favourite GTUC and just $500,000 being offered to the giant FITUG speaks volumes”.
FITUG says its thousands of members dwarf any affiliations the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) can claim.
The government’s move appears to be the first salvo in a decades-old dispute among the rival trade union bodies for recognition as the prime representative of the workers. FITUG was spawned during the life of the former PNC government when its members charged they were locked out of GTUC decision making and leadership by virtue of paper unions in that movement. When the PPP/C came to power in 1992, FITUG which comprised the largest trade union in the country, GAWU, began to be favoured over the GTUC. During this period, state subventions to the GTUC and its labour college were withdrawn.
With the change in government after the May 11 elections, observers say it is likely that the GTUC will be restored to its position of pre-eminence.
