The country would be better off without these needless attacks on trade unions

Mar 30, 2022 Letters

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Dear Editor

The position taken by the Minister of Labour Joseph Hamilton in an interview with Globespan on March 22, 2022 and as published in Kaieteur Newspaper of March 24, 2022 under the caption “Trade Unions have outlived their usefulness”, inhibit him from further functions in the appointed capacity at the Ministry of Labour.

His unfortunate comments have undoubtedly damaged the image and credibility of the Ministry of Labour and created suspicions and doubts between Trade Unions and the Ministry, which consequentially has put the Ministry’s staff in an awkward position.

While the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) is of the belief that the Minister is entitled to his sordid views, he would do better to restrain himself when speaking publicly on such issues. As Minister of Labour, Mr. Hamilton has a professional responsibility, which includes: the maintenance of industrial peace, through advisory, conciliatory or mediatory measures between Trade Union and Employers; protecting working people by enforcing labour legislation; and facilitating access to the labour market.

The reckless abandon displayed by the Minister, who chose to attack the Trade Union Movement of Guyana is appalling and disturbing. It sets a tone for employers’ abuse of the workforce and Trade Unions distrust of the conciliatory processes, among other things. The diatribe was also calculated to reduce the standing of upright Trade Union leadership in the minds of membership and to inculcate a belief of failure on the part of trade unionism in Guyana.

Minister Hamilton’s was basically regurgitating Government’s narrative about Trade Unions in Guyana to create an enabling environment for the further disenfranchisement of workers. The Minister would have workers believe that “contract employment” is the way of the future and would enable quick investment possibilities. Never was there a more nonsensical argument to lure young workers into a political trap and precarious labour environment, where they could be preyed upon by the wielders of “the proverbial Sword of Damocles” and lured into slavery, and subsequently being “retooled after retirement” with starvation wages.

The Minister’s accusation about Trade Unionist involvement in politics is even more nonsensical. There are political issues that affect workers’ rights in every hemisphere and Unions must lend their voices to them, provided that these Unions maintain their independence. The GPSU have spoken to many political issues and no Government can accuse it of abrogating its independence.  The GPSU is most disappointed by the Minister’s comments on the issue of “wages and salaries”. The Minister is well aware that in 2020 and 2021 representation was made and industrial action had had to be taken because of Government’s failure to provide adequate Personal Protective Equipment to Medical Personnel battling COVID-19. As a part of Government, the Minister should be ashamed to even touch the issue, as it would invoke questions about his actions as the Minister of Labour and the advice given to his colleagues on such sensitive “occupational safety and health” issues. Nonetheless, the question of wages and salaries in the Guyana context is very relevant, given that workers are poorly paid. This is a serious issue that Governments including the present one, of which the Minister is a part, have repeatedly denied the workers representation in breach of existing legally binding Collective Labour Agreements, Labour Laws and International Labour Organization (ILO) Conventions. The Minister in his odious arguments on the issue trivialized the importance of this issue to workers and their families, for now and in the future. Autocratic Government control on wages, salaries and allowances in Guyana has hindered the socio-economic development of the Country and has led to investor abuse of the Guyanese people.

Lastly, membership development within each Trade Union is an internal matter for each Trade Union, the strategies of which is not within the portfolio of the Labour Ministry. If the Minister wishes to pry, then maybe he can humbly ask and even subscribe to the process. He mentioned the availability of training under the auspices of the Labour Ministry to which the GPSU have been a beneficiary, even though as a Trade Union it also contributed skills to prop-up the Ministry’s training resources. This should in fact have helped him to understand some of the GPSU policies and abilities for enabling its young membership in Trade Unionism, rather than for him to negate the existence of succession planning, in this regard.

The GPSU has always been in the vanguard, subscribing to enlightened labour reforms and developments to the absolute benefit of workers, their families and consequently the nation, as a whole. Only recently GPSU promoted the increasing of the national minimum wage, but to date the Minister for all his clout is unsuccessful in having his proposed monthly minimum of $60,000 implemented. Another national engagement in which the GPSU was involved was the Public Service Modernization Project that was funded by the Inter/American Development Bank (IDB).

All in all, the Minister’s rantings sounded more like a political excursion to misrepresent the realities of the labour movement in Guyana and to propagandize the realities of Government’s failure to satisfy the needs of Guyana’s labour force. The Country would be better off without these needless attacks, but better off with caring Governments and employers.

Yours sincerely,

Kemton Alexander

GENERAL SECRETARY (AG)

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