As the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) commemorates the 50th anniversary of its historic recognition in the sugar industry, President Dr Irfaan Ali on Thursday reaffirmed his government’s commitment to revitalising the sector and underscored the need for all stakeholders to work together.
President Ali delivered the keynote address at a ceremony hosted by GAWU at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre under the theme “Born of Struggle, Built for Justice: Celebrating 50 years of GAWU’s recognition in the sugar industry” to mark this momentous occasion.
In his remarks, President Ali recognised that there would have been no GAWU without the Peoples Progressive Party (PPP).
“We must recognise that the People’s Progressive Party played a foundational role in the establishment of GAWU,” the Head of State reminded, recalling that it was PPP founder Dr Cheddi Jagan who founded the Guyana Industrial Workers Union, a predecessor to GAWU.
But as he reflected on the history of GAWU, marked by struggles and sacrifice, President Ali reminded of the not-so-distant past during the period 2015 to 2020, when the then APNU+AFC government downsized the sugar industry, sending thousands of workers on the breadline.
“That was not long ago, that was between 2015 and 2020…Sometimes our memories are so engrossed with the current that we forget what we endured to be where we are today,’ President Ali posited, highlighting that other sectors, such as bauxite and forestry, faced similar hardships during those five years.
The Guyanese leader used the forum to remind of the interventions made by the PPP/C over the years, particularly during its return to office from 2020, to return those industries to profitability.
“It is the People’s Progressive Party that has kept bauxite and sugar and the workers of bauxite and sugar alive in this country. And I have no hesitation in recognising these facts because 50 years allows us not only to reflect but to be conscious, to be objective, to be realistic and to be willing to accept the realities,” he asserted.
“We saw hundreds of millions of US dollars reinvested in bauxite and almost 1,000 new jobs created back in bauxite. With COVID, with the Russian-Ukraine conflict, with the sanctions, with wars, with food crisis, with the global transport and logistics crisis, all of that, yet we saw jobs return and investment return and that is not by accident, that is because of the confidence in the People’s Progressive Party Civic doctrine,” the president added.
According to President Ali, a trade union cannot survive if industries collapse and if jobs are not created.
“And under the People’s Progressive Party Civic, we have ensured that industry survives, jobs were created, jobs were protected, people were working…” he remarked.
President Ali went on to expressed that the labour movement will always have a friend in the PPP.
“You have a partner in the People’s Progressive Party government. You have a commitment to workers in the People’s Progressive Party Civic government,” he noted.
Speaking specifically about the sugar industry, President Ali emphasised that the sector is alive today because of the PPP government.
“There is no other fact except this and let me say to the young workers, this is not fanciful talk. These are the facts. The undisputed facts,” he affirmed.
Turning to the future of sugar, President Ali said the industry has been an economic mainstay of Guyana, shaping the rural economy and defining much of the country’s national identity. In this regard, he recommitted his government’s intention to modernising the industry and ensuring its long-term economic viability.
Under the PPP leadership, the President noted that they have invested resources, re-engaged workers, and initiated efforts to restore production capacity.
“We have not pretended that this would be easy, nor have we suggested that the result would be immediate. The reality is that rebuilding an industry that was so extensively dismantled is a long and complex undertaking. It requires patience, commitment, partnership, and collaboration,” he expressed.
“It requires not only government intervention, but also the active participation of workers and their representatives. And this is where GAWU’s role remains as critical as ever. I extend an open and sincere invitation to GAUU and to all sugar workers…Let us work together. Let us combine our efforts, our experience, and our shared commitment to restore the sugar industry…The challenges are real, but so too is our collective capacity to overcome them,” he added.
According to the Head of State, “the sugar industry remains too essential to the rural economy to be allowed to collapse. Entire communities depend on it, not only for employment, but for social stability and economic activity. Shops, schools, transportation systems, and local enterprises are all interconnected with the fortunes of sugar.”
“We ask for collaboration and partnership, for patience and understanding, the task of…keeping sugar alive is a task for all of us.”
Meanwhile, President Ali has recognised that in an era where trade unionism has declined, GAWU has remained relevant, resilient and responsive. He noted that GAWU’s continued contribution to trade unionism is both significant and commendable.
“It serves as a reminder that organised labour still has a vital role to play in shaping a fair and just society…with determination and with a shared vision, we can build an industry that is sustainable, a workforce that is empowered and a nation that is stronger,” he noted.
Moreover, according to the Guyanese leader, “when the history of Guyana is written in full and when future generations turn the pages to understand how this nation was shaped, GAWU must be accorded a special place. It stands as a bastion of workers’ struggles and as a defender of the fundamental right to freedom. Freedom from exploitation, freedom from injustice and freedom to live with dignity. GAWU is much more than a union. It is part of the soul of Guyana that fought for freedom, dignity and democracy and we have to applaud this aspect of GAWU.”
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