The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU)-the largest trade union in the English-speaking Caribbean, opened its 19th congress over the weekend and will be ongoing until tomorrow in a period when the local sugar industry, which is the backbone of the national economy, is experiencing a testing and challenging time.

In this context the deliberations and outcome of the congress will definitely impinge on the operations of the sugar industry and help chart the way forward, particularly with respect to industrial relations, which is so crucial to its stability and by extension production and productivity.

GAWU has a long history of struggle and championing of workers rights and welfare ever since its origins in the late 1940s and because of its consistent militancy and uncompromising stance on injustice and exploitation of workers it has been able to attract workers from outside of its traditional stronghold. And so today it represents workers from the timber and seafood industries as well as the commercial sector.

The struggle by GAWU has been an extremely difficult one, particularly in the early days of its formation as it had to provide representation for sugar workers and simultaneously wage a struggle for recognition, despite having the overwhelming support of sugar workers, against the company union Man Power Citizens Association (MPCA) now defunct. The latter was led by the arch reactionary the late Richard Ishmael who worked had in glove with the CIA and other foreign and local forces to destabilise the PPP government in the 1960s and to keep out GAWU as the recognised bargaining agent of the sugar workers.

It took GAWU over three decades, through tremendous sacrifices and persistence by sugar workers before the former PNC regime agreed to hold a poll in the sugar industry in 1975 which it overwhelmingly won and finally became recognised officially as the bargaining agent of the sugar workers.

It should be recalled, however, that the then Minister of Labour, Winslow Carrington who was a veteran trade unionist, perhaps was sympathetic to GAWU’s struggle for recognition and this may have influenced the holding of the poll. While there is no hard evidence, circumstantially it would appear that this resulted in Mr. Carrington losing grace from his party because he did not last much longer as a minister and since then he has been unheard of. His name is never even mentioned by the party of which he was a member. Incidentally, too the late former President of Guyana, Dr. Cheddi Jagan, as Honorary President of GAWU led a delegation to Mr. Carrington with a seven-point memorandum pertaining to matters which the union felt should be addressed as priority. However, Dr. Jagan reported that Mr. Carrington asked why only a seven-point memorandum because he saw 50 things that are wrong in the industry.

Today, GAWU has to continue championing workers rights and welfare but it also has an important role as a partner in the industry to help to turn around the industry which is faced with severe challenges and difficulties in a difficult global trading and financial climate.

On this note, President Jagdeo at the opening of the congress sounded a pertinent exhortation when he declared: “By all means, strike if you want to; I am not saying don’t strike, but go through the established grievance process. Let us have this done, because we are trying to save this industry too, and we are showing the commitment by the money we put into it.”

Indeed strikes have contributed to disrupting production but on the other hand workers and the union alone cannot share the blame because in many instance it is the arrogant attitude demonstrated by management towards workers grievances which spark off strikes. So it is necessary that both sides display a sensible, reasonable and responsible approach in order to prevent industrial action.

It is almost certain that the touchy and important issue of wages and salaries will feature prominent during the deliberations of the congress, and this is expected because of the difficulties and hardships being faced by workers.

However, it is hoped that good sense will prevail and the reality of the financial situation facing the industry will be acknowledged, as the President correctly pointed out.

“We can always talk about [wage] increase, but we have to face the reality of the industry, and we want to save it for all of us, so that sugar contributes to our economy… and the life of all the workers and the people who rely on the industry.”