Saturday workers all over the world celebrated Labour Day and in Guyana there were the traditional marches and rallies of the various trade unions and umbrella bodies. But it was evident that the mood was somewhat dampened compared to previous years. This no doubt is a reflection of the unfortunate division of the local labour movement into two factions (Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) and the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC). Despite persistent efforts to reunite the two factions, including the involvement of Sir Raphael Trotman and George DePeana from the Caribbean Labour Congress (CLC), there has not been any significant movement towards reconciliation.
This is not surprising because virtually no progress has been made on the two most contentious issues, which incidentally were the source of FITUG’s disenchantment with the GTUC, and they are the matter of proportional representation of delegates to GTUC’s conference and accountability of many unions within the umbrella body.
The issue of proportional representation has been a contentious one since the 1970s because many of the smaller unions – some existing on paper only ended up with more delegates than the larger unions. It is therefore not surprising that GAWU, one of the unions within FITUG, which is the largest trade union in Guyana and the English-speaking Caribbean, has never held the presidency of the GTUC. This is indeed ironical but it is the reality and therefore it was inevitable that at some time there would have been a split because the FITUG group battled long and hard but unsuccessfully within the GTUC to bring about much needed democratic reforms.
The other issue of accountability is of crucial importance because trade unions cannot call upon employers to come clean when they themselves are guilty of not auditing their books and having their membership, financial and other relevant records in order. Sadly many unions have been guilty of such malpractices and illegalities but the GTUC leadership has allowed this state of affairs to continue.
All would agree that unity of the labour movement is essential to effectively protect the workers cause and interests and advance their struggle for better working conditions and wages and salaries. In fact only recently a trade unionist wrote in our letter pages reminding us of the old trade union maxim: “United we stand, divided we fall.”
However, the issue at hand with respect to the fracture of the local labour movement is a fundamental one for which there can be no compromise. For if there is then the workers cause will be compromised as well.
On the other hand the GTUC camp seems determined not to budge on these issues which are fundamental the unity and health of the labour movement. If these trade union leaders are serious about effective representation for labour then they should be open to resolving these fundamental issues. So it boggles the mind as to why they are so adamant on not wanting to bring about an amiable resolution.
But there might be more behind this disinclination to resolve the outstanding matters. It could be a matter of holding on to power so as to enjoy the perks, privileges and benefits that go with being in the leadership of the GTUC which certainly is not thinking and action in accordance with pro-labour principle and practices.
Nevertheless, efforts have to continue to repair this unfortunate labour fracture because it is only helping to undermine the collective struggle of workers who have several burning issues that need to be resolved.
The President of GAWU, Komal Chand, put forward an interesting proposal when he suggested that unity among workers and their unions is essential to confront the challenges facing the working class; and that GAWU fully supports and would like to see a united trade union movement 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 GTUC, so as to deal with the more pressing issues.
“We contend that if this [unity] cannot materialise, 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.”
Serious consideration should be given to Chand’s proposal as it could be the launching pad to bring about a satisfactory resolution of the fracture in the labour movement.