GAWU will stand by, and struggle with, workers

Dear Editor,
The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) has taken note of Mr Abel Seetaram’s letter, titled “PPP & GAWU destroyed sugar”.
Mr Seetaram, in his latest diatribe, charged that our union was sleeping between 1992 and May 2015. Clearly, Mr Seetaram is not acquainted with the GAWU’s work; and indeed, it seems that it is Mr Seetaram who was asleep, and clearly is still asleep. In that period, like all previous years, the GAWU continued to champion the cause of, and articulated the concern of, workers in the sugar industry. Through our representation, workers’ rights and benefits steadily improved, and they and their families have been enjoying a better quality of life.
However, those years of improvement are currently being undermined by the actions of the Government and the recently coined ‘New GuySuCo’, seemingly aided and abetted by Mr Seetaram’s party. We need not remind Mr Seetaram that sugar workers are the only group of State employees who have had their pay stagnated at the 2014 levels in spite of the rise in the cost-of-living; nor do we have to remind him about the reduced API in 2015, and its outright denial in 2016.
He also should be well aware of the withdrawal of other long-standing established benefits, such as release-with-pay to attend the Union’s Congress or to participate in educational courses organized by the Union. And since he writes with such knowledge of the sugar industry, he also ought to know of the state-owned sugar company’s flagrant violations of the laws of the land, the collective labour agreement, international labour conventions, long-standing principles and practices, and even our sacred Constitution.
While the AFC Region #5 Councillor accuses us of fooling workers, the Union questions what deceit he is referring to; for the facts speak for themselves, and do not support his propagandistic outbursts.
Mr Seetaram repeats another charge that anti-union elements have levelled at us; that is, that we are only concerned with dues. This is as furthest from the truth as one could be. On this score, we ask the Councillor: if there is merit in what he is saying, our Union has called for the LBI and Wales workers to receive their severance. Certainly, a great lot of those workers will very likely seek employment outside of sugar, and therefore would not be paying dues. It seems the author is not rationally considering the letter he has signed.
The ramblings of Mr Seetaram are for nothing more than to deflect from the serious consequences that would befall the people and the communities of the sugar belt. There is no amount of lipstick that the author can put on the proverbial pig that would make the Government’s plans seem more attractive. At the end of the day, too many Guyanese will suffer, and the future of thousands will be blackened and shattered. As a responsible organisation, GAWU will stand by, and struggle with, the workers as they face these assaults and challenges.

Yours faithfully,
Seepaul Narine
General Secretary
GAWU