Workers present united front as 100 years of trade unionism observed

May 02, 2019 News

Every year, Guyanese public servants parade through the Garden City in celebration of the achievements of trade unions and friends of workers, in defence of workers’ rights. Notably, the first trade union in the Caribbean, the British Guiana Labour Union, was formed by Hubert Nathaniel Critchlow in 1919. According to Trade Unionist, Lincoln Lewis, “the trade union was the forerunner mass-based organisation in society; it came before the political parties were birthed.”
This year, Guyana celebrates 100 years of trade unionism, and the formation of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
A united front was presented by those in attendance at yesterday’s May Day rally. Under the theme, “A long journey for social justice — Together we can achieve,” the Labour Day parade was constituted by 17 unions, marching from Parade Ground to the National Park. Leading the procession were the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) and the Guyana Trade Union Congress (GTUC).
Some of the other trade unions, which were represented included the Guyana Labour Union (GLU), Guyana Agricultural and General Workers’ Union (GAWU), Guyana Local Government Officers’ Union (GLGOU), Guyana Postal and Telecommunication Workers’ Union (GPTWU), Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU), Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU), General Workers’ Union (GWU) and the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers’ Union (GB&GWU).
Workers braved the intermittent showers to march the streets of Georgetown.
The march was accompanied by music and laughter, from a sea of workers, all dressed in red, and carrying banners of their respective of the various unions.
Some workers carried plaques with messages of encouragement to fight against corruption. Some signs read “Up the tempo – Jail for the corrupt ones”; Cohesion makes victory sure” and “Oil Reserves are good, but oil spills can be bad”.
The parade, which started at around 8:00 am culminated at midday, when the procession marched inside the National Park and filled the stands for the May Day ceremony.
That ceremony was chaired by Dawchan Nagasar, FITUG’s General Secretary. He first called on everyone to be quiet and the gathering observed two minutes of silence in observance of solidarity for all workers.
Addresses were made by Norris Witter, the President of the General Workers’ Union (GWU); Amna Ally, Minister of Social Protection; Seepaul Narine, Treasurer for FITUG; Coretta McDonald, GTUC’s President; Vickram Bharrat, Representative of the political opposition and Attorney General Basil Williams.
Though it was constantly stressed that the observance of Labour Day called for the respect of all workers, the crowd booed almost resolutely at the mention of Bharrat, the representative of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP).
The Guyana Police Force band played several national songs at intervals between the major addresses.
The absence of Komal Chand, President of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers’ Union (GAWU), due to health issues, elicited expressions of wishes from all quarters for his speedy recovery.
In his address, leading Trade Unionist Lincoln Lewis spoke glowingly of all the achievements of workers over the years, including universal adult suffrage, freedom of association, maternal leave, and housing and community development.
He then made several demands to government in the interest of workers, encouraging them to work closely with the political opposition to bring about much needed political solutions.
Lewis said that these days are pivotal for Government to work on maximizing the benefits of the oil industry for the Guyanese people. Oil is scheduled to start pumping next year. He said that is time for the government to wise up and guard against situations in which citizens have to fight for crumbs.
“There must be a new approach to ensure Guyanese benefit tremendously,” Lewis stressed.

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Workers present united front as 100 years of trade unionism observed

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