The Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC), in the strongest possible terms, calls on the Government of Guyana to lead by example and stop the continuous assault of Rights and the Rule of Laws by the Irfaan Ali/Bharrat Jagdeo government. It is time to meet with the teachers and public service unions and resolve the more than decade-old grievance in Bauxite Company
Teachers and public servants are represented by unions, viz, the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) and Guyana Teachers Union (GTU). Consistent with International Labour Organisation Conventions Nos. 87, 98 and 151; Article 147 of the Constitution of Guyana; and Section 23(1) of the Trade Union Recognition Act, the employer, who is the Government of Guyana, is duty bound to engage in collective bargaining with the respective unions.
They are also failing to continue to resolve the 14-year grievances between the Guyana Bauxite Workers and General Workers Union (GB&GWU) and Bauxite Company Guyana Incorporated (BGCI).
As officials of government trot around the world on the workers’ taxes proclaiming democracy in Guyana, lest it be forgotten democracy is grounded in respecting human and civil rights and the application of just laws. These tenets are being trampled on daily in Guyana.
GTUC calls for respect for the rights of teachers, public servants and all workers of Guyana who are represented by trade unions. These rights were fought for and should not be ceded, regardless of who is in government or is the employer.
GTUC draws to this nation’s attention the divisive strategy of the government in pitting groups against groups, race against race, sectors against sectors, which does not augur well for giving true meaning to our motto, “One People One Nation One Destiny.” Society is also not unaware of government’s biases towards some unions and their tendency to trample the rights of workers represented by unions considered independent or non-aligned.
