Dear Editor,

INDEPENDENCE was never granted without struggle. The history of this society, wherein oppression has been a feature of the workers’ lot, started in an unorganised fashion from the first enslaved through the period of slavery, indentureship and colonization.During this period, the sense of disaffection among the masses to poor conditions of work and standard of living ignited in them the passion and determination to stand up against adversity and work to change their circumstances.

And where unorganised labour formed themselves into groups to stand against injustices in the earlier stages of this nation’s evolution, the presence of organised labour in 1905 created a structured approach to confront injustice and inequity in the society. Under the leadership of Hubert Nathaniel Critchlow, the first strike by dockworkers in Georgetown challenged what they considered injustices at the workplace. This mobilisation in the quest for the right to self-determination took place without Forbes Burnham and Cheddi Jagan.

In 1943 and 1947, these men, when they appeared on the national landscape, through their leadership while they were members of the trade union, they took the struggle to the level of political formation in 1950 with the founding of the People’s Progressive Party, and advanced in another form and level.

The political movement embraced and built on the foundation laid by the Labour Movement in 1926. It was foundation grounded in the principle of the right to self-determination, which entailed a series of measures. Some of these measures were: universal adult suffrage; free education and universal health care, housing, prison reform, internal self-government, and regional integration.

As the achievements were made on the political front in terms of moving towards internal self-government, workers also achieved advancement in their welfare at the workplace. For instance, there have been the achievements of minimum wage, eight-hour work day, 40-hour work week, overtime with pay, shift premium, paid vacation, and compensation for workers who were injured on the job.

Labour and safety net laws were also enacted. Some of these are: National Insurance Service (NIS) Act, the Occupational Health and Safety Law, Trade Union Recognition and Certification Act, and Termination of Employment and Severance Pay Act.

In 1976, fifty years after the Labour Leaders’ agenda of free education, the Forbes Burnham government made education free from nursery to university. At the constitutional level, Labour has seen the enshrining of the Protection of Fundamental Rights and Freedom, which has its genesis in International Labour Organisation Conventions and United Nations’ declarations.

Fifty years of political independence finds this nation among nations embracing a developmental agenda based on the Green Economy. The Green Economy entails three planks: Sustainable Development, Environmental Protection, and Labour Policies. For the trade union, the attainment of independence is another marked achievement in the quest for a just society, and Labour must continue to play its role as a stakeholder.
Regards,
LINCOLN LEWIS
General Secretary, GTUC