Labour Day 2012 celebrations in Guyana will go down in history as one on which hundreds of able-bodied workers face the stark reality of losing their jobs.
This is so because of recent machinations by the combined Opposition in parliament when they used their one vote majority and made some incised wounds and dug some $21B in cuts from our national budget in certain key areas which will have a telling effect on some of the country’s workers and their extended families. It is indeed against this backdrop that we celebrate May Day 2012.
What is strange about this year’s Labour Day celebrations is that the faux pas is not the doing of the government of the day, but rather the two opposition parties. Under normal circumstances, May Day celebrations in Guyana have over the years been observed with the Labour Movement taking the lead in calling on the government to respect the rights of the workers, especially to employment and improved working conditions. Now, however, it is the vicious and callous move by the Opposition APNU and AFC, and not the government of the day, that would be sending 38 state media workers and their immediate families into starvation mode.
Apart from the 38 state media workers, several key developmental programmes and organisations geared to uplift the standard of living of all Guyanese have been reduced to the ridiculous $1.00 a year organizations.  Chief among the Opposition’s list of casualties are the much touted Low Carbon Development Strategy, the Amelia Falls Hydro Project, which would have definitely served to reduce the cost of electricity to consumers, the National Communications Network, the Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit and the One Lap Top Per Family project, among others. This is a shame and disgrace and a blatant show of contempt by the combined Opposition to all the people of this country. It would seem that the Opposition would stop at nothing to render the democratically elected government ungovernable.
But it would seem as if the combined Opposition is still living in the past; or because of their lack of vision, they have lost track of reality. Thanks to the present government, the people no longer live in abject poverty and backwardness, and they know full well when they are robbed of vital and basic necessities aimed at improving their overall living conditions, from the Rupununi to the Corentyne. The people will, on this note, unhesitatingly reject the false prophets in Granger, Ramjattan, Roopnarine, Nagamootoo and others in their putrid attempts to justify their absurdities which are beyond all sense of reason and purpose.
This is downright madness by the APNU and the AFC, in their mad rush to satisfy their ego. The people are wary of the intransigence of the leaders of these parties, who, with impudence, are running around   the country, in vain attempts to explain their draconic actions. Quite rightly, , APNU in its shameless bid on the Essequibo Coast, was heckled at public meetings as the people stoutly rejected the APNU/AFC ‘crab dance.’
One Essequibian rightly put it: “We don’t want to get caught up with the APNU/AFC crab dance. We have to live. Where will I get money to pay higher electricity rates? Will Granger or Ramjattan give me?”
Historically, Labour Day is a Day on which workers celebrate and count their gains; when trade unionists open their hearts to their membership and strengthen their resolve to continue serving their interests.
Not so on Labour Day 2012. The combined opposition APNU and AFC have revealed their true anti-working class identity by slashing the budget that would effectively affect the livelihood of thousands of Guyanese.
This is wrong, and must not be entertained  by any civic minded Guyanese.