The GAWU/PPP relationship is unhealthy

Apr 17, 2019 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,

The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) continues to encourage sugar workers to protest against the Guyana Sugar Corporation. In their latest exercise, they encouraged Uitvlugt cane cutters to protest against the sugar company to increase the number of days they work.
Editor, at this point, following the resizing of the sugar industry that was clearly suffocating and sucking much needed finances from the country’s coffers, it is very disturbing to know that GAWU continues to pretend that it has the interest of sugar workers at heart.
GAWU was formed in 1946 by former President Cheddi Jagan under its former name, the Guiana Industrial Workers Union (GIWU). The organization was the PPP’s trade union arm during a time when Guyana was establishing representation for herself against foreign powers under one political party. This organization was created and pursued its agenda along PPP lines as a product of the party.
In 2019, it bewilders me as to why the government has not yet called out this union for its incestuous and unhealthy relationship it has with the PPP. Guyana has since attained independence and now has more than one political party. We in fact have two main political parties dividing the two largest ethnic groups. How then can we have one of those political parties controlling a union that represents over 22,000 citizens (sugar workers) who are paid by the state? This organization can no longer be seen as a genuine representative of sugar workers but in fact, an arm; a tool of the PPP.
The GAWU has always been led by a PPP official. To date, its current President is not only an executive PPP member, but a Member of Parliament for that side of the House. For more than a decade the PPP was in government and over that period the industry was severely dwindled, despite that party “championing” the rights of sugar workers and having direct control of their representation. Yet today the GAWU and the PPP have the nerve to blame the government for the sugar workers’ issues.
I wonder whether the sugar workers have not figured out that it was the PPP who stole their money for the state of the art Skeldon factory that never worked, and that GAWU did nothing to represent the workers, since they (workers) would have faced the most difficulty as a result of that transaction.
A quick look at the GAWU website would show that it is nothing more than a pro-PPP news site with reports of how badly the government is treating sugar workers and why the PPP should be returned to power.
It is sad that while the current government is trying to reconfigure the ailing sugar industry, the opposition PPP is strategically using it to cause problems for the government. It is sad that the GAWU’s relationship with the PPP is a clear as day conflict of interest that no one is talking about. It is sad that so many other civil society organisations created or infiltrated by the PPP are sailing on like water as GAWU, but the government has done nothing about it, and then wonder why they are being hit unfairly from all sides.
Local observers

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