BHARRAT GIVE DEM $30,000 NUH!

Nov 03, 2010 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

Guyana does not need a Champion of the Earth. It needs a Champion of the Working Class.
This week our Champion of the Earth showed that he has the potential to become a Champion of the Working Class when he met with the dismissed workers of Barama and offered a three-month conditional stipend of $25,000 per month.
Now this $25,000 per month is below the income tax threshold and one may presume below what most of the workers earned. But no one expects the government, which was not the employer of the dismissed workers, to pay the workers at the level they were earning just before they lost their jobs. Considering that the government was not under any statutory obligation to assist these workers, the $25,000 stipend is a fantastic thing from our champion and he deserves plaudits for it.
But how did it feel for him to be doing something like this. It must have felt good to know that you are helping someone that has just gone through an experience that no one really likes. Losing a job is not easy in these times when the cost of living in Guyana is so oppressive, and it is oppressive since things are expensive and working people need to earn to take care of their families.
I am sure that for the President, helping those workers would have left him with a good feeling, a far better feeling than when the government gives out those fat tax concessions to big companies.
We need more such things from the President, because the working class of Guyana is facing tremendous hardships and there is a need for leadership that understands these hardships. Instead of comments about these hardships as criticisms of the government, what is needed is more action like what took place this week so that the political leadership of this country can become more attuned to the realities on the ground.
It is a great thing that has been done by the champion, but more can be done. Judging from the comments, the dismissed workers did not expect much, and despite the fact that there will still be a gap to fill between what they earned and what they will now receive, they will be pleased by the government’s gesture.
The stipend that will be given to the workers is not a handout. The workers will be expected to attend computer classes. Now this approach is very sensible because it commits the workers to doing something in order to earn the stipend. But why computers?
It is acceptable that Guyana is soon to have a major project that will involve most homes having computers. But it is totally unnecessary for everyone to learn about computers. How many of those dismissed are going to ever use a computer or find a job that involves using a computer. Not many.
They say that knowledge is never wasted, but how many of us really believe that these workers will ever be able to earn any income from the knowledge that they will gain from attending these classes?
The job market is saturated. Technology now means that things that used to be done manually are now computerized, thereby reducing the amount of labour required. Computers are displacing labour.
Then there is the problem of cost. The workers are required to attend computer classes for three months. This means the computer schools will have to be paid and the government will foot this bill. But the workers attending these classes will have to travel to these classes and many of them may not reside near these computer schools, so it means that they will have to travel plus incur the costs of a meal as well as supplies to attend the classes. Mind you, they are not working and still have bills to pay, so they will need to conserve as much as possible.
These costs will eat into the stipend and therefore the President should seriously consider either waiving the requirement for attending classes or add “a little something”, like a $5000 per month to cover these expenses.
So, instead of putting money into the hands of the computer schools or forcing the workers to spend the little they have on transportation and other expenses to attend these classes, just give them an additional $5,000 and as we would say in Guyana, call it George.” Or if its sounds better, “call it Bharrat”.

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BHARRAT GIVE DEM $30,000 NUH!

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