THERE is no development without workers. Workers are the key ingredient to any developmental process, and without them the engine of production cannot turn. Labour still remains a key factor in production and development, and once labour remains a key factor, workers must be treated with dignity and respect.People often pay lip service to labour, preferring to pay more attention to land, capital and entrepreneurship, forgetting that labour is the key factor.
Labour has always been exploited — from slavery unto today. It is against this backdrop that the labour movement, formed in 1905 under the leadership of Hubert Nathaniel Critchlow, saw dockworkers striking to demand their labour be treated with respect and dignity. This demand was grounded in the right to self-determination, which in the Industrial Revolution in Europe in the 1700s saw similar acts being committed by workers who were dislocated from the cottage industry and denied the right to have a say in their conditions of work.
The month of May will mark Guyana’s 50th anniversary of independence. Independence is an achievement of self-determination consistent with the universal right to charter one’s political, social, cultural and economic wellbeing. The pursuit of internal self-government began in 1926 when Caribbean Labour Leaders met in Georgetown, strategised, developed a menu of measures, and led the fight to achieve independence. It wasn’t until one year shy of a quarter-century that a mass-based political party, the People’s Progressive Party (1950), entered the fray and supported the struggle.
This year, as Labour takes time out to reflect on its erstwhile contributions to self-determination of the workers (past, present and potential), theirs and the nation’s development, there remains the need for a redoubling of efforts. This is so given that Labour is not only being taken for granted in determining the nation’s development, but workers are being treated as though they are not key to development and are only incidental to the process.
Some even consider workers nuisance when they stand up and demand the achievements from their blood, sweat and labour that resulted in international declarations, conventions, charters and laws be respected.
Let me make it very clear: No politician today, in or out of the Executive or Legislature, could be where he/she is without the foundation that was laid by the trade union movement and the Workers’ Agenda which was incorporated into the Political Platform and received the support and votes of the workers. The fight for one-man one-vote started in 1926 with the trade union. This fight, which from 1953 paved the way for politicians — irrespective of their socio-economic status and identity — to have a presence in the legislature and the executive, is thanks to Labour.
And where Labour has made its mark in achieving these two important milestones in the fight for self-determination, it will be an affront to the workers and movement to ignore the foundation laid by us; which today is either taken for granted, coveted, or is under threat to be denied us and have us shut out of the political decision-making processes of the state at the national, regional and local levels.
2016 finds the Labour Movement a united unit based on the conviction that unity exists only when Labour is in one federation that stands convinced of the universal right to freedom of association protected in the Guyana Constitution (Article 147) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention No. 87 (Article 6). Consistent with respect for these tenets, 90 years after the foundation was laid and 50 years after political independence was achieved, the Labour Movement stands proudly united and committed to hold dear the legacy bequeathed to this nation; which shall be relentlessly safeguarded, deepened and strengthened even as we ward off the forces of contempt and disregard for our blood, sweat and tears.
Going forward, trade unions across Guyana have committed to the following:
i) Right to Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining; ii) resolution of all outstanding labour grievances; iii) demanding a seat at the decision-making table; iii) ensuring the honouring of the social contract; iv)upholding of international declarations, conventions, charters, time-honoured principles and the Laws of Guyana.
Where, in 2016, there exists a Ministry of Business to address the wellbeing of entrepreneurship and there is no agency to address the wellbeing of Labour, the Trade Union Movement has every right to be aggrieved. For whereas back then the struggle was against the exploitation of labour by the merchant class, which had the support of the colonial government; today, under self-government, entrepreneurship is once again given pre-eminence over labour.
And while it is noted that President David Granger holds the view that Social Protection encapsulates Labour, holding a view does not necessarily make that view right. Social protection, according to the ILO, is one of the 4 strategic objectives of the Decent Work Agenda.
The absence of a Ministry of Labour clearly sends a signal that workers are not considered a strategic component of national development. Where a ministry which normally has responsibility for addressing issues that cut across every facet of governance is miniaturized, it speaks to a misunderstanding of what Labour is all about. It also speaks to contempt for the spirit and intent of the Guyana Constitution and the key role workers play in national development via production, distribution and consumption.
In this 90th year, where workers paved the way to celebrate the 50th anniversary, there shall be unity against indignity, disrespect, and the miniaturising of our presence, contributions and roles in society.
