Dear Editor,

AT last Sunday’s labour rally, there was little reflection on the role of the labour movement in the struggle for the restoration of democracy. It must be noted that democracy was neither a gift to Guyanese bestowed by imperial Britain nor by the dictators who succeeded the British. The west closed its eyes to the transformation of Guyana into a dictatorship and the erosion of the rights of the working class, post-independence. The right to political freedom was consistently and brazenly demanded by labour leaders during the anti-dictatorial struggle.

Today, workers and labour unions enjoy collective bargaining and are free to rally, protest, bargain for improved working conditions and higher wages; support political parties of their choice, as well as enjoy so many other rights and privileges. It was not always so, certainly not under British rule or during the dictatorship.  All these rights have been made possible since the restoration of democracy in 1992 and the rise to power of Dr Cheddi Jagan after 26 years of authoritarian anti-working class oppression. The labour rights movement of Cheddi, Janet Jagan, Dr Nanda Gopaul, Ashton Chase, Desmond Moffett and Tommy Howell of the bauxite union, and that of other labour leaders fought for several basic rights for workers, including equal pay for women, guaranteed pensions, NIS, rights of pregnant women, etc. The labour movement, unions such as GAWU, NAACIE, and a few other anti-dictatorial unions played critical roles against the dictatorship.

It is through the leadership of the above figures and the role of a handful of other freedom fighters that we enjoy democratic rights such as the right to vote and freedom of the press in Guyana, as well as the right to belong to unions. It is recalled that Burnham crushed the working class and sugar workers in particular like the cane that was crushed for the juice that made sugar. There was modern-day slavery in the cane fields during the dictatorship. Profits in the sugar industry were creamed off to fatten the national budget to benefit other workers and fund national service. The sugar levy on profits denied sugar workers of profit-sharing based on a formula that was enshrined in a collective-bargaining agreement. This was a huge deprivation of wages, with the money used to fund the oppressive national service and other projects through the Ministry of National Development. The non-payment of wage increases in 1979 and withdrawal of increments to sugar workers led to a bitter legal challenge by NAACIE through its leader and lawyer Ashton Chase via union member Seeram Teemal; it was a historic case that was won at the High court and the Court of Appeal. Burnham sought to reverse the rulings through passage of the 1984 Labour amendment Act. That was challenged by Chase through another union member Mohamed Ali. Nanda Gopaul was General-Secretary of NAACIE and he was instrumental in getting scores of other workers to join in the legal battles against Burnham and Hoyte in the courts, winning them all. For the first time in the history of independent Guyana, the courts knocked down a legislation as being ‘colourable’ and unconstitutional. The Labour Amendment Act sought to remove wages as property and today the Teemal and Mohammed Ali cases are celebrated as hallmark legal decisions. The importance of NAACIE and Chase’s struggles for nearly a decade from 1979 onwards revived hopes in workers and brought a fresh wave of workers’ militancy in both the sugar and bauxite industries.
Since that time, sugar workers have been perennially underpaid; their incomes have remained way below those of others who worked at state agencies. Most sugar workers are earning below subsistence level. There is need for an increase in their wage, in fact of minimum wage for all workers.
Sugar workers gave birth to the PPP; they were the cradle of the growth and development of the PPP. It is because of them that the PPP was restored to office in August 2020. They deserve an increase in wages and other benefits including the granting of land to former workers who lost their jobs during the tenure of the PNC-led Coalition. GuySuCo should offer them incentives.

The labour movement in Guyana relentlessly fought the dictatorship, but was not alone. It received much assistance from the diaspora to empower the working class. From exile, a few of us, a loose coalition of anti-dictatorial exiles, mostly students and former political activists, joined the anti-dictatorial struggle. We lobbied western governments to help shape their anti-dictatorial relations with Guyana’s fascist dictatorship. In addition, we networked with Guyanese labour leaders, workers, journalists, and politicians in exposing the atrocities of and denouncing the dictatorship. During our breaks from studies, we quietly slipped into Guyana amidst great risks to our safety to organise workers or joined various expeditions against the dictatorship.
We worked closely with labour leaders with whom we were familiar, such as Cheddi and Nankishore Gopaul. The role of Cheddi is well known but few are familiar with the role of Gopaul in the labour movement and in the anti-dictatorial struggle. Gopaul played a significant role in the anti-dictatorial movement. I know of Dr Gopaul’s role since the 1980s as a NAACIE trade unionist and his leadership of GUARD. Gopaul and I held a lot of discussions at the backyard of NAACIE during the 1980s when I visited Guyana during teaching breaks; I can’t reveal the nature of the talks but they were revolutionary in nature. Incidentally, that backyard hosted Jimmy Carter and Robert Pastor and their team when they first came to Guyana to investigate conditions for free and fair elections. Several other dialogues were held there. And it hosted a birthday party for Jagan at which Rohan Kanhai was present. There are aspects of Gopaul’s role in the freedom struggle that I know that I can’t pen on paper; aspects that I was also involved with.
I will always hold enormous respect for decent labour leaders and political activists in Guyana and in the diaspora. We must never forget the role they played to restore democratic governance in Guyana.

Yours sincerely,
Dr Vishnu Bisram