TODAY is yet another May Day. I missed going to the annual rally but I think age restricts you as you get older. I wanted to go today and March with GAWU, but I don’t think at my age I can walk from around Georgetown then into the National Park. I think my May Day march era is over.
Today, trade unionism in Guyana is at its lowest point since the first trade union was formed on January 11, 1919 (source- Ashton Chase, A history of trade unionism in Guyana, 1900-1961, page 50). One of the saddest moments in trade unionism anywhere in the world can be found in Guyana.
If you look at the state of trade unionism anywhere in the world and compare it with the Guyana situation, Guyana comes out as the country where trade union vibrancy is almost non-existent. This is one of the great ironies in Guyana because compared with other CARICOM countries Guyana always had more radical, socialist inclined politicians and trade union leaders.
In the world today, in some countries with unmitigated capitalism, trade unions are far more biological than what we have in Guyana.
A newspaper article is not the right place to discuss the reason for trade union dormancy but the encroachment of politics into the functionalism of trade unions since Cheddi Jagan became premier in 1957 has continued unabated since then. Perhaps the most graphic example of this is the Public Service Union (PSU).
Literally controlled by opposition politicians in the late 1950s and from the 1960s onwards, the PSU from day one was politically partisan with ethnic infusions and remained so to this day. Class loyalty was also part of the origins of the PSU when it was formed in 1923. It needs to be noted that the PSU was in fact a middle class formation when it was birthed in 1923.
In his book, “A People’s Political History of Guyana, 1838-1964, Professor Kimani Nehusi wrote the following about trade unions in Guyana: “Save for the formidable exception of Hubert Nathaniel Critchlow, trade unions were invariably led by members of the middle class,” (page 47).
There is a historical fact about Guyana that almost 100 per cent of Guyanese in and out of the land do not know. The strike by the PSU in 1962 was the first time in the British Commonwealth that the civil service had gone on strike (source- Harold Lutchman, “Interest Representation in the Public Service: A History of the Guyana Public Service Union,” (page, 185).
Dr. Jagan lost power in 1964 and from that year on, the PSU never called strike action until 1993 when Dr., Jagan returned to the presidency. It is this type of insane political and ethnic bias in the functioning of trade unions that is responsible for the pathetic state the movement is in today.
Today the PSU has a president that has been at its helm for more than 36 years. This is beyond imagination. Why would the membership of a trade union not want to rotate its leaders? The PSU once had term limits but that removed. What was removed too was the requirement that a president of the union had to be a serving public servant and had to leave the presidency when he reached retirement age.
Here are the words of former PNC Minister of Finance, Sallahuddin, writing in his book, “Labour At The Cross Roads”: “Trade unions should share some of the blame for the state of affairs. We failed to democratise our unions,” (page, 286). Here are the words of Dr. Nanda Gopaul in his book, “Resistance and Change: The struggle of Guyanese Workers, 1964, 1994,” …unions have abandoned workers struggle while remaining loyal to political parties,” (page, 379).
Today, trade unions are shell of what they used to be and in an economy where companies are expanding at a rapid rate, non-unionisation is a detriment to workers’ welfare. But in a country where unions thrive on anti-government bias and ethnic preferences, where is the respect for trade unions in today’s Guyana? Which company is going to sit down with trade unions leaders to give them recognition when those companies think and believe that the unions have a political agenda?
Here is an example of what I mean. We had the president of the National Workers Union, Mr. Norris Witter as the guest on the Freddie Kissoon-Gildarie Show. Mr. Witter went on and on about violations of workers’ rights and the constitution by the government.
We asked Mr. Witter to comment on the attempted rigging of the March 2020 election. He said he knows nothing about that. This man’s answer typifies the state of trade unionism today. Trade unions need desperate help. They need to send out a mayday signal.
DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited.
