Subject to consultation with the rest of the leadership of the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) a limited number of urban traders could benefit from trading spaces on the premises of the Critchlow Labour College (CLC) that will allow them to market their goods on specific days, between specific time frames agreed between the management of the Campus and the vendors who will be allowed to trade there. “The idea here is that the Trades Union movement is considering making an intervention that will support the efforts of urban Guyanese who trade for a living and who derive insufficient opportunity – and in some instances no opportunity at all – to secure advantageous trading spaces in the capital,” Lewis told the Stabroek Business earlier this week. Lewis added, however, that while he is “passionate about the idea” he is not, in his capacity as General Secretary of the movement to take such a decision without consultation.
According to Lewis “evidence of downtown pavements and ‘road corners’ crammed with vendors point to a limited number of trading spaces in the capital.” The GTUC General Secretary said that he believed that labour has a duty “to respond” to situations in which the livelihoods of ordinary people are threatened. While Lewis told the Stabroek Business that he believed that the “nature of the matter” is likely to give rise to intense discussion at the level of his colleagues he said that this was an idea “that occurred to me, personally, and I am going to back it fully. I believe that what I am seeking to do is part of what labour is about,” Lewis told the Stabroek Business. Asked to provide details regarding the “shape” that the idea would take Lewis said that he would go no further than he had already gone in pronouncing on this matter. “What I can tell you is that there will be consultations with the rest of the leadership of the movement during which, hopefully, decisions can be arrived at by consensus.”
Meanwhile, the GTUC General Secretary told the Stabroek Business that labour will be reaching out to the rest of the business community, possibly, including the commercial banking sector for support in creating an enabling environment in which trading can take place. “The fact of the matter is that what we hope to do is to accommodate trading in an environment that was created to serve as a training institution. We have to be mindful that if we get the ‘green light’ to go ahead with this project we are able to execute it within the framework of the substantive purpose for which it was created.” Asked whether it was likely that trading activity on the grounds of the College will begin “well before Christmas” Lewis responded that there is, as yet, no timeline set since the substantive decision on creating the facility is yet to be made.
Lewis told the Stabroek Business that his own inputs into the discourses will also have to do with ensuring that “good order” and respect for the “current rules” by which the College is administered are adhered to. “You can be assured that the trading rules will be strict and that adherence to those rules is going to be strictly monitored,” Lewis told the Stabroek Business. “Lest anyone be mistaken, we are not about to transform the premises of the College into a conventional marketplace. It is a measure that is intended to create the opening, a limited opportunity, for working people. If the idea goes forward you can be sure that the labour movement will countenance no abuse.”
