As Guyana marks Labour Day 2010…
KOMAL Chand called for new strategies to deal with changing trends, Carvil Duncan for tax cuts and mechanisms to ensure employers don’t bilk staff of their NIS contributions, and Gaitri Baron for women to raise their voices even louder so they could be heard.
But the one grievance they did have in common was that the labour movement was still divided after all these years.
The occasion was the annual Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) May Day rally at the National Park on Thomas Lands, held this year under the theme: ‘Responding to Global Challenges through Trade Union Initiatives and Solidarity’.
Kicking off the round of speeches, Chand, President of the Guyana Agriculture and General Workers Union (GAWU), said that ‘May Day’ is an opportune time to reflect on the situation confronting the working class, and that while there have been some positive developments here in Guyana where labour matters are concerned, there are still some setbacks that urgently need to be addressed.
As such, he said, it becomes mandatory that the working class and their respective organizations consider new strategies as they face complex challenges.
“Unemployment continues to be a sore issue, and joblessness is the order of the day. And those who hold on to jobs are forced to accept lower pay and less favourable working conditions,” Chand said, adding:
Touching subtly on the issue of union busting, he said: “GAWU wishes to reiterate that solidarity in the Labour Movement is crucial, especially when employers want to bust Unions.
“When GAWU considers a matter important to receive its comments, it will do so as a matter of principle. We, therefore, reaffirm our support and solidarity to workers to belong to a union of their choice, and give respect to ILO Convention 87 [Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise and Convention 98 – Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining. Comrades].”
Noting further that “developments in our day call for great vigilance of all working people and their organizations,” Chand reiterated that unity among workers and their unions is essential to confront the challenges facing the working class; and that GAWU fully supports a united trade union movement and would like to see a united Trade Union so it could speak with one voice on behalf of the workers here in Guyana.
Failing that, he said, the only alternative is to broker a merger of sorts between the two umbrella bodies, namely FITUG and the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC), so as to deal with the more pressing issues.
“We contend that if this [unity] cannot materialize, then there should be an established council or committee comprising of representatives of both FITUG and the GTUC, to provide an opportunity for collaboration between the two bodies and thus their affiliates.”
Reflecting on the origins of May Day, Chand said it all goes back to  1886 in the USA  in the state of  Illinois when some 80,000 Chicagoans marched in the streets, demanding an eight-hour workday without any loss in pay.
So effective was this demonstration of defiance, he said, it ignited hundreds of thousands of workers throughout the other states in the US to engage in strike action and protest. The struggle for the eight-hour workday gained prominence in 1889, when, at the Second International meeting in Paris of the International Workingmen’s Association, an organization of socialist and labour parties, passed a resolution declaring that May 1 be celebrated as International Workers Day throughout the world.
As most children who wrote the Common Entrance examinations will have known by now, having had to discuss the subject during Social Studies, he said that here in Guyana, this day was first observed during the 1930s on the initiative of Hubert Nathaniel Critchlow, who, as head of the British Guiana Labour Union, organized workers to observe this day.
Labour Day eventually became a National Holiday in the country’s calendar of events, when, in the Legislative Council in February, 1958, Mrs. Janet Jagan, then Minister of Labour, Health and Housing, supported a Resolution by Rupert Tello, a former TUC General-Secretary.
Taking the podium after Chand, Baron, Chairperson of the Guyana Agriculture and General Workers Union (GAWU) Women’s Forum, besides noting that Guyanese women are not raising their voices enough on matters of importance to them, said that compared to the 1950s, this present generation has seen a significant increase of women in the labour force, which is why they should work with greater strength to help their country.
Baron also mentioned that the women of her organization eagerly await the passage into Law of the Sexual Offences Bill and commended the government for strengthening this essential piece of legislation, which is for the protection of women and children.
“The Women’s Forum of GAWU will try its best to educate and inform all women about this legislation which will protect us,” she said.
When it was his turn, Duncan, General Secretary of the Guyana Labour Union (GLU), said that May Day is a day for reflecting on past successes and planning for the future, and that though workers here are now in a better position than their Caribbean counterparts, it is time to make demands and call on the administration to cut down on the income tax.
“It is time for change; we need to revisit the mechanism and have a reduction in taxes so that we can better maintain our families,” Duncan said.
He also called on the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) to put measures in place that will allow workers to be aware if their employers are paying taxes on their behalf or not.
According to Duncan, workers are currently refusing to join trade unions and this is one of the many challenges the movement is facing. He posited that one way of overcoming this particular hurdle and garner the support of all workers is to have a unified trades union movement.
“I ask of you today,” he entreated the gathering, “to build strong trade unions. Do it for the Father of trade unions, Hubert Nathaniel Critchlow. If we do this, then the next May Day, we will have only success to report about and not failure.”