Latest update January 17th, 2025 6:30 AM
GTUC was not invited to OAS corruption talks – Lewis
“…every taxpayer has a say in how our affairs are managed”
The Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) was not invited to make a presentation to the Organisation of American States (OAS), Mechanism for Follow-Up on the Implementation of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption (MESICIC) team, which wrapped up its mission to Guyana yesterday.
Gail Teixeira
Lincoln Lewis, who serves at the helm of the GTUC, yesterday said that the trade union body sees the act of not inviting it to make a presentation to the OAS team as “deliberate.”
According to Lewis, “even though Gail Teixeira is Guyana’s representative, hers is not the prerogative when it comes to civil society to determine who comes before, or is heard by this body.”
Teixeira was tasked by Government with the responsibility to facilitate the three-day meeting.
Lewis is adamant that GTUC is a stakeholder in society and “our right to exist and participate in the national ethos is not only enshrined in Universal Declarations, International Conventions and Guyana Constitution, but spelt out in the Labour Law.”
Lewis said that the right to existence for the GTUC is taken seriously and “we will not be silenced or shut-out from any issue that impacts on this nation’s and citizens/workers’ wellbeing.”
He believes that corruption is not only money- and nepotism-driven, it also manifests in the violation of laws and transgression of people’s rights.
Lewis in a missive to the media yesterday said that the workers (taxpayers) of this country don’t get to decide who spends their money by virtue of an established principle “in our system of governance where our taxes go toward a collective pool.” He said that it is expected from the funders of the State’s coffers that the State will “judiciously invest in our wellbeing, pay our bills, and we, the people, will remunerate those managing our affairs.”
According to Lewis, “Individually and collectively every taxpayer has a say in how our affairs are managed and we are treated… And the GTUC shall be heard.”
Lincoln Lewis
He did say that the GTUC has managed to present to the visiting team “our concerns regarding the government’s efforts, or lack thereof, to put systems in place to reduce and ultimately eliminate corruption.”
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