Dear Editor,
During this crisis, we must all continue to celebrate the importance of our workers and acknowledge the difficulties that they face in today’s environment. Our Unions must continue to be strengthened and the NIS must be financially reinforced to support the future and current needs of those who make the development of Guyana possible.
Over the years we have seen the disregard for many of our workers’ needs in terms of safety, wages, benefits and secure employment. Many of these actions have led to strikes in the recent past. It is for this reason CRG joins with our workers in the call for a better labour market and working environment that is not only safe, but also sustainable. A working environment that safeguards the health of our workers, by placing their lives above profits. A labour market that places the worker’s family above personal Government officials’ perks. CRG believes that the time has come for both industry and the Government to increase its sensitivity to the needs of our workers and trust in the development of human resources. No nation’s future can be secured without placing the future and job security of its working people as a top priority when making decisions on its future course.
We have seen the downfall of our sugar industry and lack of concern for the sugar workers and their families while leaders pursue personal gain via the privatisation of estates. We have seen the unsafe working conditions within our gold mining industry and the deaths of workers due to mercury poisoning being swept under the rug. We have seen the disregard for the safety of our Indigenous communities due to manganese mining which has also led to the death of workers. This also they have tried to sweep under the rug. Our workers’ lives should not be neglected while pursuing profitable growth. We have seen the disregard for our bauxite workers and the continual unhealthy conditions their families endure that have led to many kidney issues. We have seen our teachers continue to struggle to make ends meet while enduring an unsafe work environment that has left a number of them experiencing assault while in the classroom. We have seen the workers in the rice industry suffer unnecessarily due to poor administrative decisions that have increased expenses. We have seen the increased taxation of our workers at a time when tax breaks were needed. This, comrades, has led to one of the most unfavourable labour markets our country has seen in decades.
For these reasons and given the current pandemic, CRG calls upon all the decision-makers in Government to stand with the workers and request a repeal of the tax increases of the recent past and request the implementation of a worker retention programme that redevelops our core industries while ensuring the basic safety considerations and compensation benefits provided to our workers are standard across all industries. Our workers should be confident that when they leave for work in the morning, they will safely return home in the same healthy condition in which they left. Our workers should be confident that when they enter a job, their work will benefit the profitable longevity of the company they have joined without risk of inappropriate Government interference or Government pillaging of the company’s profits. Our workers should be confident that when they work in our Cooperative Republic, they have the security of a benefits package that takes into consideration their health, the health of their families and their financial security for today as well as tomorrow when they have retired, irregardless of which company or industry they pursue. Our workers should be confident that when they receive their pay, most of their earnings will go into their pockets and not be taken from them in the form of excessive taxation which is squandered via corruption. Our workers must be respected by our institutions and our Government must adjust its posture to embrace and empower our workers for the future benefit of the development of our nation. It is with this hope that CRG joins with our nation’s workers in a call for a better approach to the treatment of all Guyanese workers during and beyond the next Administration.
Best regards,
Jamil Changlee
