CLICO (Guyana), NIS debacle to feature at FITUG May Day rally

Apr 29, 2009 News

---

General Secretary of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) Carvil Duncan, yesterday, outlined plans for the annual May Day rally.
He said that this year the debacle surrounding Colonial Life Insurance Company (CLICO) Guyana and the National Insurance Scheme will be a priority that will be thoroughly addressed.
He noted that very shortly persons will be retrenched in various areas and some may have to consider salary cuts in order to preserve their jobs.
Duncan did not delve into much detail about what would be focal point of the discussion, but called on people to get involved in the proceedings come Friday.
“If I give you all the information I have at my disposal now then nobody would listen to me on Labour Day.”
He did note that workers are very much concerned about future pensions that may have been deposited in CLICO and invested in The Bahamas. Duncan said that such investments were sound at the time. The investors were not the architects of what eventually transpired, he said.
When asked about the fact that CLICO (Guyana) was in breach of the financial laws of Guyana, Duncan said that the question was for the Ministry of Finance.
Trade Union Unity
The trade unionist also took umbrage at a letter that was issued by the Clerical and Commercial Workers’ Union (CCWU), which has decided not to participate in any of the May Day rallies, in protest of the ongoing rift within the umbrella trades union body, the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC).
The decision was taken at a meeting of the CCWU executive last Thursday.
According to Duncan, the move came as a surprise given that in a prior executive meeting it was suggested to meet with affiliates to deal with May Day and what can be done to have a joint rally.
“We realize that a divided work force could never be a strong workforce,” said Duncan.
He added that come Friday, FITUG will march under its banner but will not set foot in the Critchlow Labour College (CLC); rather it would proceed to the National Park.
When asked by a media operative if FITUG was so concerned about unity among trade unions why not compromise and rally with the GTUC, Duncan retorted, “How could they compromise when the GTUC does not even recognize the legitimacy of the that body?”
He further reminded that during last year’s Labour Day activities when Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, who was performing the duties of President, visited the GTUC rally after FITUG’s and was booed out of the rally. “Are we to subject ourselves to that?”
He noted that the GTUC was not interested in unity and would not allow FITUG to have a presentation at its rally.
Duncan further noted that in order for there to be unity at the level of union, the leadership of the GTUC needs to be changed.
The CCWU said that the ongoing rift is seriously undermining the solidarity of workers, since the union feels that the continuing divide provides employers with more opportunities to exploit workers.
Over recent years there have been separate May Day rallies following a split within the trades union movement. This saw several unions, including Guyana’s largest labour union – the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers’ Union (GAWU) – breaking away to form the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG).
“A united trade union rally on May Day would be a good way to go, but the CCWU recognises that at this time again it is impossible, having spoken with officials of FITUG and the GTUC recently,” the CCWU said in a statement.
It was further stated that the CCWU associates with both FITUG and GTUC, and the executive called for the CCWU to demonstrate its disgust with both bodies over the continuing rift.
“We feel that no strong enough effort is being made to seal the rift,” CCWU General Secretary Grantley Culbard told this newspaper in an invited comment yesterday.
Mediation efforts by two distinguished union leaders in the Caribbean – Sir Roy Trotman, General Secretary of the Barbados Workers’ Union; and George DePeana, former General Secretary of the Caribbean Congress of Labour and also a former General Secretary of the CCWU – have failed.
The CCWU believes that a way must be found to mend the divide in the interest of the workers.
The union is calling for FITUG and GTUC to “talk some sense” and not be rigid about certain positions.
“The GTUC appears not to be interested in any unification, hence not enough effort is being made on their part,” Culbard said, while urging that compromise be found to stop what is going on, to the detriment of workers’ solidarity.
Although the CCWU will not be participating in any of the May Day rallies, the union indicated that it will participate in other Labour Week activities and expressed the hope that the same position does not exist next year.

---

---