THE People’s Progressive Party (PPP)’s call for the government to find jobs for the laid-off workers of St. Kitts-based Call Centre, Toucan Connection, has been described as “flimsy” and “shameful” by Minister within the Ministry of Social Protection, Simona Broomes. On Monday, the PPP at a press conference held at its Robb Street headquarters, called on the government “to find a solution to the plight of the 83 former employees of Toucan Communications Inc., the Linden-based Call Centre.”
The party’s General Secretary Clement Rohee said that the APNU-AFC-led coalition government must fulfil its manifesto promise of “a good life” for all Guyanese.
“Thus far, all that the workers have heard from government officials is platitudes, to the effect that ‘the off-shore company must pay; the government is trying its best; and we are deeply concerned,’” said Rohee who called the utterances by government officials “empty exhortations”.
But Broomes, in a subsequent interview with this publication, countered that it was under the former government that the owners of Toucan Connection were able to operate in an unregulated manner.
“The PPP has no shame. So, of course, Rohee, while in opposition, has nothing else to do; scrambling to come up with all sorts of stories,” she said.
The people of Linden, she said, are well aware of the struggles they have experienced under the former government, and as such have confidence in this administration.

“The comments made by Rohee prove very clearly that the PPP has never taken into consideration the working-class people of Guyana,” she said.
“Had the PPP government valued the working-class, the situation at ‘Toucan’ would have never occurred; a company that is off-shore, operating in Guyana with hundreds of employees, no system, no contracts, not even a registration of business… no commitment to the Guyanese workers,” she added.

FOOT-DRAGGING
Rohee, on the other hand, feels that government is “dragging its feet” on the issue. “The PPP understands that the matter was already dropped like a hot potato by several government ministers, since it proved to be an insurmountable challenge for them, and was shunted off to the Office of the President,” he said, adding:
“Further, the party was reliably informed that the issue was to be discussed at a Cabinet meeting, but nothing was heard of since.”
But Broomes is not buying. She maintains that it is only the PPP that could be blamed for the situation of the Linden workers, as no proper regulations were in place to ensure their security.
“The people of Linden know, politically, that the PPP government suffered them; spite them; neglect them; and allowed for all sorts of behaviour to take place in Linden,” she said.
“The PPP government had embraced that kind of behaviour towards the people of Linden; and that is why the people of Linden had no space for the PPP, and they voted them out.”
But, she said, it’s not surprising “that the PPP would come out to make these kinds of false and flimsy statements, which they very well know is just the result of some of the wickedness they had done to the people in Region 10.”

TIME FOR A RETHINK

However, according to the PPP, there is no longer a Ministry of Labour but a Department of Labour, and “industrial matters are bound to surface and remain unresolved by a government, who, from all appearances, have placed labour/industrial relations at the lowest rung of the social ladder.”
The party is suggesting that government revisit its decision “to do away with the Ministry of Labour” in the same way that it has moved to have Commissions of Inquiry established into the Ministries of Public Service and Education to correct “perceived deficiencies.”
“The callous attitude towards workers’ compensation and industrial relations,” Rohee said, “will do more harm than good to the economy, which, incidentally, is already experiencing serious problems at the commercial and manufacturing levels, with hundreds of workers, in both sectors, being laid off. One of the several reasons being because of government’s scarecrow policy towards foreign and local investors.”
Minister Broomes, however, does not see things in quite in the same light as Rohee.
“Guyanese people are now benefiting from real governance,” she said. “And the coalition’s talk about a good life for all is being demonstrated every day; workers are now realising that they have rights and are valued.”
Government has committed to providing relief to the laid- off Toucan workers, but did not state what form the relief would take. Some 90 workers were laid off by Toucan Connection in August, without receiving their benefits.