Workers can look forward to economic security, improved living standards – President Ali

– says time to unify trade union movement

With Guyana on the cusp of massive transformation, President Dr Irfaan Ali has reassured the working population that they will benefit from economic security and prosperity as well as improved standards of living.
He made this remark in this address to the nation to commemorate Labour Day, which is celebrated today.

President Irfaan Ali

“My Government is committed to ensuring a better life for all workers. Our workers deserve this!  Over the next five years and beyond, workers can look forward to greater economic security, enhanced economic prosperity and progressive improvements in citizens’ living standards,” Ali said.
According to the Head of State, Labour Day is a time for recognition and commendation of the superlative contributions of Guyana’s working men and women.
“Our workers are most indispensable to national development. They provide the brain and muscle of our economy. Workers are the prime force in transforming our resources into wealth. They help drive and sustain economic growth and are the protagonists of human development. Without workers, our economy would grind to a halt,” he asserted.
In fact, the President went on to say that while the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) has inflicted grievous harm to the global economy, workers around the world have borne the brunt of the global downturn resulting from the pandemic. Employment shrunk as hundreds of millions of workers were hurled onto the breadline.
Guyana, he said, has not been immune to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic as the country’s economy was also adversely affected. However, the Head of State said that his Administration, since coming into office nine months ago, has taken and will continue to take steps to protect workers and their families.
“We have provided relief to households. We have offered incentives to frontline workers. We are safeguarding our people’s health through an aggressive vaccination campaign. We have removed the heavy burdens of taxation which were previously imposed on our citizens. We are defending workers’ rights. We are innovatively supporting the education of workers’ children, and we are adopting measures to protect jobs,” he stated.
But according to President Ali, Government cannot do this all alone. He said the Administration needs the support of employers and workers in order to overcome this deadly pandemic.
“We must all band together to ride out this storm – to ensure a quick exit from the pandemic, to restore economic normalcy, and then to move dynamically onward to catapulting our economy to higher heights of performance. This is the time when all are called to make sacrifices and contributions to protect all of our citizens and to ensure a rapid recovery from the effects of the pandemic. This is not the time for squabbling or confrontation,” he contended.
Against this backdrop, the President outlined that when it comes to workers’ interests, the objectives of unions and the Government are the same.
“We have a common interest because we seek a freer, safer, more united and prosperous country, where every worker benefit and where his or her children can be assured of greater opportunities. Every worker, whether in the formal or informal sectors, whether employed in the traditional or newly emerging sectors or engaged in the private or public sector, has a critical role to play in helping to navigate our economic recovery and advancing economic growth and development,” the Head of State stressed.
As he joined with workers and their unions across Guyana to celebrate Labour Day today, President Ali reminded that “The Government of Guyana salutes all workers and their representative organisations. We urge that the celebration of this year’s May Day, subdued as it is because of the pandemic, be an occasion for sober reflection, assessment and forward planning, and a time to recommit to the ideals of the unity of the trade union movement. Long live the workers of Guyana! Solidarity forever!”
For the second year in a row, the observation of Labour Day will be a sober one owning the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that has been ravaging countries around the world. In Guyana, there has been a sharp spike in the number of positive cases and deaths recorded from the pandemic with the month of April accounting for the highest figures seen since the outbreak of the deadly virus here last year.
To date, Guyana has recorded over 13,200 confirmed COVID-19 cases and some 296 deaths.
Normally, every year on Labour Day, hundreds of workers are decked out in red, carrying banners as they march along the streets of Guyana to show solidarity for workers’ rights.