An Industrial Court can bring about social change

Dear Editor,

The PU&GWU is calling on the APNU/AFC Government to urgently move to Parliament to table a bill and pass the necessary law that provides for the establishment of an Industrial Court in Guyana.

Editor, due to the number of unsolved, unsettled issues, lack of enforcement of existing labour laws, lack of improvement, and lack of addressing ongoing grievances and general work related issues affecting the working class, the People United and General Workers Union (PU&GWU) strongly believes that the way to address these matters is for the Government to urgently establish an Industrial Court.

The union is calling on the APNU/AFC Government and the opposition PPP/C to collectively support the union’s call for the urgent establishment of an Industrial Court, since both parties, when in power and on their past general and regional election campaign trail, had promised the working class and their trade unions a good and strong labour sector, etc.

The union will be dispatching a letter to both the APNU/AFC Government and the opposition PPP/C requesting both parties to move to the National Assembly for “Parliament to establish an Industrial Court with the status of the High Court to hear and determine disputes relating to employment and labour relations.’’

Should the PPP/C fail to jointly support the union’s request, the APNU/AFC Government has the majority of seats in the National Assembly so they can independently craft, table and pass the relevant bill/law that provides for the establishment of the Industrial Court.

Presently matters that relate to wrongful termination or dismissal, etc, without the relevant payment that the affected worker is entitled to, the Ministry of Social Protection’s Labour Department takes some of these matters to the Magistrates’ Courts for judgment and award, but the Guyana Fines Act and Labour Act, state that the maximum a Magistrates’ Courts can award is $100,000 to an employee.

So for those matters that the award will be over $100,000, the affected employee has to head to the High Court to have said matter addressed, but on many occasions, a number of affected employees cannot afford a lawyer.

The role of the Industrial Court is also included to facilitate social dialogue. The practice of labour laws should no longer be restricted to trade unions and employer groups. Due to the changing nature of the labour markets, the role of the Industrial Court can drastically change the traditional role of an Industrial Court as an institution of social justice.

The procedures of trade dispute resolution have always been crafted to enable the workers, deemed not to have the same bargaining strength with their employers, to access quick, affordable and effective remedies.

The shift of the court into the judiciary from the Ministry of Labour can result in a perception by trade unions that workers will no longer have easy access to industrial justice. This could be a misperception because the new laws should/will have strong provisions empowering workers, and enhance, rather than limiting, access to all forms of justice. We should not, however, disregard the apprehension.

The challenge in restructuring the court is how to accommodate the concerns of the trade unions and employers that we are throwing away the dispute resolution mechanism they created to suit their unique relations without adequately consulting them. Labour Rights, Social and Economic Rights have been enshrined in the Constitution. The Court can have a role to protect and promote these rights. The Court can move from the era when our role under the legal regime was unclear.

The Industrial Court, more than any other court, should have a role in applying international laws to our domestic labour market. It must be the institution that the International Labour Organisation looks up to, to implement the international labour standards. The court should have the role to promote and protect international labour standards. It would be in the interest of this court, that the Judiciary does not lose touch with the ILO; otherwise, we may find ourselves unable to understand the ILO’s agenda and our role in its fulfilment.

The big challenge in the future is likely to come from the growing moves to render labour standards throughout the world the subject of international rules, through bodies such as the International Labour Organisation. In a sense, it is the counterpart and counterbalance to the World Trade Organisation.

The Judiciary, and in particular the Judiciary Training Institute, must keep facilitating the judges to participate in the programmes of the International Labour Organisation. The judges must be facilitated to attend the ILO’s Annual Delegates Conference and ILO Turin Training Institute, for them to keep abreast of international labour standards.

The industrial court, if established, will make tremendous achievements and reassert our role in bringing about social change.

All for your information and guidance.

Yours faithfully,

Micah Williams,

General Secretary

People United and

General Workers

Union