Time to work as partners, not contenders

May 07, 2017 AFC Column, Features / Columnists

(Labour Day Message by AFC Leader, Raphael Trotman for the Govt. of Guyana – This is the first of three parts)
Many countries throughout the world do set aside May 1st every year to honour the struggles, sacrifices and achievements of workers, whether by themselves or through their Unions.

AFC Leader Raphael Trotman delivering his address at the May Day rally.

The Government of Guyana chooses today to return to the themes of “New Labour” and a “new model” first adumbrated in 2016 by H.E. President Granger at the 4th Triennial Delegates Conference of the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC).
Embracing a new model for labour is in fact quite consistent with the theme for today’s celebrations: “Organising, a necessary Pre-Requisite in Building a Strong United Trade Union Movement”.
Last year in his address to GTUC Conference, President Granger pointed us in the direction of the “new model” and opined that:
“A ‘new model’ of trade unionism is needed to build on these successes and promote 21st century trade unionism. Technology has rendered many jobs redundant and led to downsizing in many industries. Outsourcing has added to job losses. Globalization has led to jobless growth in some instances. These developments have weakened the trade union movement.”
Therefore as we go further into the 21st Century, there is need for us to adapt to the way in which labour is organized today, and in the way the struggle for betterment is waged. It is imperative that this struggle produces better wages, better working conditions, and ultimately, better relationships between unions, between unions and workers, and among workers, their unions and the Government.
In this new paradigm, the survival of organised labour and the nation-state as we know it, can best be insulated from the external threats and shocks that consistently bombard our good intentions. Our togetherness and side-by-side struggle provide an armour of protection, and it arms us with tools and weapons to adapt and fight.
No longer, therefore, must we consider the struggle here in Guyana to be “us” versus “them”. It is OURS! So as we redefine the relationships among workers, your unions and the government, we should recall the biblical admonition: “Two are better than one…and a threefold cord is not quickly broken”.
Again in President Granger’s words, this ‘new model’ must be “aimed at restoring workers’ confidence and enhancing capacity-building of trade unions. A new model must also take account of changes in the job market.”
In a manner of speaking, we have to “go back to the future”, to the time when political parties, government and the trade unions were working in tandem; we have to go back to a time when each major political party was an extension of a Trade Union. We have to come full circle.
The Government of this Cooperative Republic of Guyana is committed to working with you as Partners and not as Contenders. Consider the global realities of today – trade through the Internet, with purchases being delivered to our doors in lightning speed. Consider the dwindling influence of trade unionism worldwide, and consider that in a few short years Guyana will not only be a Green State, it will be an oil-producing state.
Brother Lincoln Lewis’ message which appeared in the (Sunday 30/04) newspapers titled “Why We March” is a powerful one indeed, forcefully articulated in his own inimitable style. It reminds us that “the trade union movement is a creature of conflict that is functional for human development,” and that “everything the workers have achieved was not without resilience and conflict.” These apt words should also be telling us that we have to reconfigure the methodologies and strategies being used. It is time for change!
We accept that there is a perennial distrust between employees and employers. We acknowledge the matrix bequeathed to us that pre-disposes us to relate to each other in a contentious and sometimes antagonistic manner. But does it have to be so only because we were told that it has been so. There is a better way that requires courage and strength.
This year as we celebrate the workers of Guyana, the men and women who make all aspects of life and living possible, we accept that the relationships we speak about are not currently in a perfectly healthy place. We accept that there is unease with some of Government’s policies and programmes. I assure you that the discomfort we feel today will give way to pleasure tomorrow.
To prepare ourselves for the transition into a green state and for the benefits of petroleum revenues, we must apply a healthy dose of discipline to our spending, and to our relationships with each other in the workplace, in the markets, at church, at school.
Your government is not oblivious to your struggles and neither are we uncaring or unresponsive to your needs. We ask you for time, and we ask for your voluntary engagement.
The world is changing at an alarming pace. Businesses are exploring new ways of conducting their affairs. Employers are engaged in research and experiments to cut cost, eliminate waste and become more efficient. Governments and trade unions must do the same. In fact, increased productivity which translates into Cutting Edge Performance has become a central focus of industry and governments all over the world.
If we fail to change, we will put ourselves out of synchrony with reality, with our brothers and sisters. Trade unions should also be prepared to pursue a paradigm shift in which reasonableness, consensus and co-operation take the place of antagonism, conflict, rejections and bad faith bargaining.