Representing the poor, neglected and maltreated workers of the G/town Municipality

Apr 25, 2018 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,
I would like to use this opportunity to publicly applaud Mr. Carvil Duncan and the Executive of the Guyana Labour Union (GLU) for their empathy and advocacy on behalf of the poor, neglected and maltreated workers of the Georgetown Municipality.
The GLU is the lone voice of activism that is bringing some hope and courage to the downtrodden workers there. The other union that is supposed to represent a section of the municipality’s workforce seems to have capitulated.
How else could this other union, if it is a responsible union, explain why it would sit quietly by and allow its members (municipal workers) to suffer each month, the indignity and hardship of receiving their salaries late, and their PAYE, NIS and other deductions not remitted in a timely manner and sometimes not at all?
How could a well-intentioned Union allow the Administration of the Georgetown Municipality to decline to purchase tools, materials and supplies that the workers need to execute their duties, under the pretext that they cannot afford to, and then turn around and contract out these same tasks at ten times the amount to their relatives, friends and church pals for tens of millions of dollars without adhering to tender or bidding processes?
How could this other union, if it is worth its salt, overlook the fact that senior administrators of the Council purchase expensive things for themselves, travel frequently first class, whilst ordinary workers have no transportation, cannot receive their leave passage allowance and are left to fend for themselves in order to obtain a piece of land from the Public Housing Programme in order to own a place that they can home?
How could a caring union remain indolent while rampant nepotism, cronyism and favouritism are practised at City Hall? It has just watched passively, relatives, friends and church pals of senior municipal officials, brought in and placed at the top of the pay scales and given nice cushiony jobs, over and above those who have worked for decades. These persons are enjoying the ‘good life’ while hardly doing anything.
Why is the other union not insisting on a thorough forensic audit of the Council’s financial and accounting systems and an audit of the municipality’s human resources to ensure accountability and transparency? Will it just gullibly accept the claim by Council that it is cash-strapped without verification and have its workers sent on the bread line?
Maybe it is time for the members of this other union to defect and join the Guyana Labour Union or some other labour body that will earnestly represent their members’ interests rather than just collecting their dues.
Magagula Jackson

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