Forty years in the life of any nation certainly constitutes a period suitable for the citizens and their leaders and institutions to reflect, review and assess.
Four decades can indicate just how a country chartered a particular course to collective development, social progress or courted stagnation – or indeed, destruction. That is why the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), the country’s largest workers bargaining unit, seeks to reflect upon the events within the last forty years, as Guyana observes the 40th Anniversary of its Republican status. GAWU’s congratulations are tempered by sober reflection initiated by the realities of progress mixed with national challenges and set-backs.
Four years after political independence from Britain, there was general consensus in 1970 – for the next level of national self-determination. This was the conversion from a Monarchy – bound State to a Republican nation within the Commonwealth. This was indeed a political and Constitutional milestone, generally embraced by most Guyanese then – including GAWU’s founders.
We hasten to point out however, that Republican status in 1970 found our union some thirty years into the struggle for justified recognition to represent Guyana’s sugar workers. Finally, it was in the February month of 1976 when the sugar barons and the government were forced to obey sugar workers demands for GAWU to be their sole-representatives.
A much-too-long period of national inertia and trampling of the people’s rights – from the mid-seventies to 1992 – resulted in Guyana’s relative social and economic stagnation and stultified development.
The working-class bore the brunt of the devastation, as they do to this day, despite noticeable improvements.
The dawn of a new political and governmental era by late 1992, offered hope and national and international good well even as the Republic was again beset by both political turmoil between 1997 and 2002. But the national institutions survived these onslaughts. The Guyanese people appreciated the managerial policy strategies and rescue abilities in the face of post-2002 criminal enterprise and the Great Flood disaster of 2005. GAWU itself is still struggling ahead full steam in the face of external, European Union – engineered challenges to the sale of Guyana’s sugar and recently, the reluctance of local sugar executives to truly recognize the sector’s workers’ worth.
In a sense, it is GAWU’s responsible posture as a national organisation representing the labour of vital sectors of the Republic’s economy, which informs its own policies and conciliatory character in the face of both global and local economic challenges.
GAWU’s earnest wish is that our leaders, on all sides of the Guyanese political spectrum, find some way to negotiate joint ventures – for our developmental future. Let the post-fortieth Republic Anniversary milestone be characterized by co-operation and less confrontation. Let not local elections, global downturns, or petty difference of approaches hinder our ability to resolve disagreements. Celebrations of Mashramani 2010, whilst good, needed, creative therapy, will ring hollow and will be just phony and temporary if all of us do not commit to conciliation and true co-operative effort after Mash Day.
GAWU salutes the Heroes of the 1763 Rebellion!
GAWU salutes the Heroes of the struggle against colonialism – the engineer of our Independence and Republicanism! Long live the Republic of Guyana! Happy Mashramani 2010.