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Joey and the sugar industry

Dec 10, 2008 Letters

Dear Editor,
“Square pegs in round holes” is the usual attack by Joey Jagan on the Government and the PPP. Joey is a citizen of a country (USA) which treats its citizens with no respect, especially its workers, who have to toil at two jobs to make ends meet.
His father always said that when America sneezes the world catches a cold. When America sneezes this time, not only did the world catch a cold, but America got itself in a mess that it doesn’t know what to do.
In Guyana, although there is a drop in the price of its product on the world market and the sugar is at a deficit, the Government still gives the workers a raise, which we all agree is not enough, but at least it shows that Government still cares about its people, and still has everyone on its payroll. According to Joey, the Government has loaned to GuySuCo four billion dollars so the corporation can survive.
In the USA, Canada and the developed world, the situation is bleak. In the USA, in November alone, over half a million jobs were lost, and no increase is given to the workers.
In Canada, Magna (a large auto manufacturing company), has freezed wages for three years.  In the other developed countries, the situation is the same — layoff of the poor workers is the trend of the day. In these countries, the governments cannot find money to pay their workers, but are taking the taxpayers money to bail out the banks and the manufacturing sectors.
Due to mismanagement and square pegs in the housing market in the USA, the government will be giving them over seven billion ($US) dollars of the tax payers’ money to bail them out of their mess.
The auto industry has asked for forty billion ($US) dollars. In England, the government bails out the banks with sixteen million pounds, and France and Germany, about nine billion dollars each.
I think Joey should voice his opinion in the USA about square pegs which people see every day, and leave Guyana, which he seems not to know about.
In North America, although the inflation has risen, there is no wage increase on the horizon. Presently, the lecturers at York University in Canada are on strike for the past month, for increase in salary.
The union is asking for 15 percentage increase for the next three years, while the University Board is willing to pay only three percent.
If these rich countries cannot pay their workers a living wage, how can a poor country like Guyana afford to do so?
Can Joey say who is more caring for its workers, the Guyana Government or the developed countries?
Another question I would like Joey to answer is that if he doesn’t want the people to elect the PPP back to the Government, which organisation does he have in mind?
Jagessar Sukhraj

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