Large percentage of working class without union representation

While workers from the traditional sectors have sought representation from trade unions, there is a large bracket of the working class population in Guyana that remains unrepresented.
During the centurial anniversary of trade unionism in Guyana, President of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG), Carvil Duncan, recognised that workers were represented owing to strives by Hubert Nathanial Critchlow.
However, he said, no one has sought to have private employees and other groups of employees represented, which uncovers the fact that there is much more to be done.
“Why is the security service not organised? Why [are] the private education institutions not organised? Critchlow organised the domestic workers and they are organised. We have all these calling centres which have thousands of persons and they are still not organised. We have a lot of work to do,” Duncan iterated.
The FITUG President called on other unions to evolve from the traditional methods of representing workers and work towards a new direction.
“We are not living in a world of our own in Guyana. Globalisation came…and it left with us a technologically-developed workforce. What are we doing about that? Throughout the Caribbean, unions have been losing members primarily because they have not been focusing in the right direction. If after 100 years, we should now consider focusing in another direction,” the Trade Unionist added.

Reconstitution of Labour Ministry
Another burning issue highlighted was the fact the Labour Ministry was dismantled in 2015 and replaced by a department. Holding weighty importance, calls were mounted by FITUG and the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) to have the Ministry reconstituted.
Duncan insisted to the Labour Minister, Keith Scott, who was amid the gathering, “There is need to have a Ministry of Labour…People are leaving rapidly and more people intend to leave. What’s to happen is the trade unions who will suffer. Do an analysis of what is happening, do your utmost to ensure that this decline reduces and the Ministry starts operating as a Ministry of Labour and not under no other minister,” Duncan expressed.
General Secretary of GAWU Seepaul Narine shared similar sentiments, stating he is of the belief that a Labour Ministry is unwelcomed by Government.
“The Ministry which existed up to May 2015 has now been relegated to a department after more than 60 years of existence. It seems to us that the Government is vehemently opposed to a Labour Ministry as could be seen by its disagreement with an Opposition-sponsored motion to re-establish the Labour Ministry”.
Adding to these challenges, the GAWU representative stated that collective bargaining is one of the promises which remains unfulfilled by the coalition administration.
“Another vexing problem we are facing relates to collective bargaining which has received scant attention from the powers-that-be…We heard this before, and to date such promises remain dashed and our law on collective bargaining continues to be disregarded. Could you imagine reading the newspapers and learning from the President of the Guyana Teachers Union that his union was unaware that negotiations were purportedly taking place between the GTU and the Government,” said Narine.
Presently, the Department of Labour is controlled by the Social Protection Ministry, which was created in 2015 after the present administration took office.
Remembering Critchlow
In 1919, Hubert Nathaniel Critchlow founded the British Guiana Labour Union (BGLU) which later sparked the recognition of countless others to advocate for better wages and working hours. At the age of 21, the Father of Trade Unionism rallied persons to demand for an eight-hour working period daily after facing exploitation in the workplace.
As such, Trade Unionist Lincoln Lewis shared that Guyanese must recognise these contributions which led to NIS and severance payments, collective bargaining.
“The Trade Union Movement, more than any other organisation, has done more work in contributing to welding this nation. This is a proud history that we must recognise, proclaim or all to be aware of…Today in 2019, our challenge must be to recognise our common interest,” he asserted.
Lewis, who is also the President of the Guyana Trade Unions Congress (GTUC), reminded that Guyana is on the cusp of unparalleled oil wealth, which must be used to provide unemployment benefits.
“As they talk about the windfall they will be getting from oil, it may be the right place for them to put some money in the NIS so when people lose their job, they can get unemployment benefits…We are not tasked with the responsibility of dividing the national pie; ours is the duty to advocate for equitable no-partisan division that elevates the standards of the working class”.