After a “necessary” meeting of the leaders of the major trade unions in Guyana, the labour movement has written to President David Granger seeking “engagement to correct anomalies” which are a “threat to Labour’s existence.”
The meeting, which was held at the office of the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC), included the main sugar union GAWU and key affiliates of the GTUC which have in the past not acted in concert because of decades-old divisions about representation in the labour movement. This year, there was a joint May Day rally for the first time in decades, signalling a rapprochement between the two sides.
This rapprochement continued at Thursday’s meeting, where representatives engaged each other so as to “raise, discuss, and deliberate on a number of issues relating to the workers” well-being and “Labour’s role in representing their interests, in the workplace and wider society.”
The APNU+AFC government is being accused by the united labour movement of breaching established practices in relation to four major trade unions, including the GPSU, which is presently in a deadlock with the administration over public service pay.
According to General Secretary of the GTUC Lincoln Lewis, the meeting was a necessity as the matters discussed have a direct impact on the unions’ existence as stakeholders with the right to be part of the decision-making processes that affect their membership.
Lewis’ observations were supported by President of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) Komal Chand, who told Stabroek News that shared at the meeting was the “concern of all the unions, irrespective of who they represent, that they are under severe pressure of the rank and file because of expectations built during the [2015 elections] campaign.”
These expectations have now been shattered and union leaders are “under so much pressure that that we all took a common unanimous decision to demand that collective bargaining be respected,” he stated.
The unions have highlighted the fact that since 2009 the Bauxite Company of Guyana Incorporated (BCGI) has refused to negotiate with the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union (GB&GWU).
In a statement, they said that while the Ministry of Education has abandoned negotiation with the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) and has instead imposed wages/salaries increases, the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) is presently engaged in a scenario where the good faith principle that guides Collective Bargaining is not being upheld.
It was also highlighted that decisions are being made on the state of sugar and the welfare of the workers in the absence of input from the recognised unions, which are GAWU, the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees and the Guyana Labour Union.
In the statement, the unions said they “are mindful that if these violations and transgressions are not addressed soonest they can become widespread with dire consequences.”
As a result, they said that they shall be guided by their constitutional duty, rights and responsibilities as noted in Articles 38, 147 and 149C of the constitution.
These articles specify the “duty of the ….trade unions… and the people through sustained and disciplined endeavours to achieve the highest possible levels of production and productivity and to develop the economy in order to ensure the realisation of the rights set out”. The articles also recognise and protect “the right to …be a member of …a trade union and detail the right of unions to participate in decision-making processes of the State” which requires the participation of the “…trade unions…in the management and decision-making processes of the State.”
The statement was signed by Lewis on behalf of the GTUC; Chand on behalf of GAWU; Vincent Bowman, on behalf of the National Union of Public Service Employees; Harold Shepherd, on behalf of the Guyana Postal & Telecommunication Workers Union; Sherwood Clarke, on behalf of the Clerical and Commercial Workers Union; Norris Witter on behalf of the General Workers Union; Mark Lyte on behalf of the GTU; Leroy Levans on behalf of the Union of Agricultural and Allied Workers; Onika Bizzeth, on behalf of the Guyana Local Government Officers Union; Vanessa Phillips, on behalf of the Printing Industry and Allied Workers Union; Dawchan Nagasan, on behalf of the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial & Industrial Employees; Mortimer Livan, on behalf of the GPSU; Eon Andrews, on behalf of the United Minibus Union; Herman Williams, on behalf of the People’s United & General Workers Union; and Godfrey Adams, on behalf of the GB&GWU.
Of the registered trade unions, only the Guyana Labour Union and the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers Union were unrepresented at Thursday’s meeting, the statement said.