Call reiterated at May Day rally for re-establishment of Labour Ministry

May 02, 2019 News

Trade Unionists have repeated a call for the re-establishment of the Ministry of Labour during the observance of the 100th Anniversary of Trade Unionism yesterday.
Speaking at the annual May Day rally held at the National Park, General Secretary of the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC), Lincoln Lewis reiterated the desire of the Unions to see the re-establishment of the Labour Ministry.
The Labour Ministry was reduced to a department under the Social Protection Ministry by the current administration.
As such, Lewis called on the Granger/Nagamootoo administration to demonstrate commitment to labour by ensuring attendance to this year’s Annual Conference of the ILO to be held in Geneva next month.
“We ask Minister Ally to take this message back to the Cabinet that today united Labour calls for the setting up of a Ministry of Labour that will best represent the issues and concerns surrounding the people of Guyana. It is the workers who turn the engine of government and this country, and it is important that this vital resource be properly represented by a Ministry of Labour.
How can we have a Ministry of Business representing the business community and ignore a Ministry of Labour and be committed to development. Think about it: Are the people of Guyana not important enough, deserving enough? This is an area of potential conflict.”
Lewis had previously stressed that a Labour Ministry is important for shaping and executing labour policies that affect all workers, past, present and potential, “In other words, we the people.”
He said that this among other requests would not be a challenge for President David Granger, given his stated commitment and desire for trade union unity. According to Lewis, what the President wants was showcased yesterday with the unified presence of the trade union movement.
Lewis added, “If they (government) are still friends of the trade union movement as they were prior to 2015, they must prove it. We speak with one voice on these issues.”
He said that today, the trade union movement must not exist in isolation, but rather, function in an environment of politicians, employers and workers. Lewis explained to the audience that as unionists, they are also impacted by domestic as well as international laws, agreements, conventions, rules and practices.
Trade union leaders have been calling for the re-establishment of the Ministry which was done away with when the Coalition secured Government at the May 2015 General Elections. President David Granger has so far resisted those calls.
Last year, a motion was tabled by Opposition Member of Parliament, Gillian Burton-Persaud, to have the National Assembly call on Government of Guyana to support the call of the joint trade union movement and restore the Ministry of Labour to its pre-2015 status, as soon as possible.
The trade unionists present yesterday stated that the absence of a Ministry of Labour is a disservice to Guyanese and the historical development of the society.
It was also highlighted that concomitant with identifying problems within society is also the necessity of moving to solve them through policy, laws and programmes to secure real change.
The ILO has 189 Conventions. As a member, Guyana is duty-bound to ensure the conventions are implemented and policed through programmes and law. Of these conventions, about 16 attend to Social Protection. This leaves more than 170 to be attended to, of which seven are considered Fundamental Rights. This reality has historically been attended to by a Ministry of Labour that treated with all in equal measures.
“The absence of focusing on Labour as a ministry denies recognition of our historical struggles, achievements and continued pursuit for the creation of a just society, represented in the philosophical guidance of these conventions which are intimately intertwined to our social, cultural, economic and political advancement,” trade unionists have argued
They noted that the Trade Union Movement is not asking for a new ministry, but the Movement is asking for equal treatment.

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Call reiterated at May Day rally for re-establishment of Labour Ministry

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