PRESIDENT of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), Mr. Komal Chand has said that, since the last Labour Day, Guyana has seen progress which is evident in the growth of the economy. He was addressing the gathering at the National Park rally in Georgetown on Wednesday after the May Day Parade through the city streets.
Chand said: “Last year was the seventh consecutive year of economic growth, which remains at an average of 4.48 percent. This is remarkable in view of the continuing financial and economic crises engulfing the developed countries.”
He said GAWU recognises that the National Budget 2013 contains several measures that will benefit workers and pensioners and it is supportive of the reduction of the personal income tax rate, the introduction of mortgage interest relief, ongoing subsidies to Guyana Power & Light (GPL) and Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) and increased pension benefits, among others.
However, Chand observed that consideration of the Budget Estimates became an occasion to transform the National Assembly into a stage for melodrama, noting that the combined Parliamentary Opposition slashed over $30 billion from the allocations, mainly for developmental projects.
He questioned what could have moved those parties to cut provisions for such important purposes and added that “the country suffers; the working people and the vulnerable in our society are the losers.”
Turning his attention to the sugar industry, Chand said that, as the largest representative body for its workers, the union has anxieties over the prolonged setbacks with which it is faced.
He declared: “This industry is too important to our economy and too much entangled with thousands of workers’ lives to perform so poorly.”

Collective action
While he expressed gratitude to the Government for its financial assistance, he said the time has come for collective action of the direct stakeholders to chart a path for the industry’s recovery.
He said, from the union’s standpoint, the key problem is the inadequate supply of canes to the factories.
According to Chand: “This is not a problem that the industry’s long experiences and capabilities cannot handle. It needs to identify where the breakdowns are in the fields, in every specific estate and begin to apply the solutions.”
In addition, he posited that the industry needs committed personnel to take charge of this work and it must rely, in a big way, on the workers to bring to bear their practical experiences.
Meantime, Chand said the Guyanese working class remains divided and called it “an unsettling development” in their otherwise proud history.
He emphasised that the working class needs to influence policies, but will only be heard if they speak with one voice.
“We need to influence the direction our country is going but we can be effective only if we do so together. We need to express our views on the future to which we aspire, but we must do so with the strength that only our unity can provide,” Chand maintained.
He also acknowledged the increased interest of foreign investors in Guyana’s mining sector and said, while GAWU is pleased to know that the country can attract such investment, it is not all that matters.
Chand insisted that other critical factors need to be considered in the exploitation of a country’s natural resources, which are owned by its people and who should be widely consulted on their use.
He said Guyana’s natural and national wealth has a significant role in the present and future all-round development, especially with the country’s developing state, with poverty still uncomfortably high in spite of the steep reduction in recent years, expanding social needs and so much more to be done in infrastructure.