In what is now called the world’s richest and fastest-growing economy, the cost of living in Guyana is unbearable for the working class. Workers must unite, because while we suffer, politicians live in luxury, gorging on the nation’s wealth and keeping us divided and distracted.
The Guyanese dollar now sits at approximately $220 to US$1, and in the markets, we are being charged U.S. rates. But our wages, salaries, and pensions have not kept pace with the soaring cost of living. We are being bled dry, asked to survive in a system designed to keep us poor while the elite thrive.
The recent call by the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) to revisit wages and salaries, to bring them in line with a “living wage,” is not just reasonable; it is necessary. It must be addressed with urgency as a national priority.
It is unjust and unconscionable to expect workers to “band their bellies” while President Irfaan Ali and his government loosen theirs, their waistlines expanding in step with their privileges. While they indulge, we tighten. Their diets are choices. Ours are consequences of poverty. Their fluctuating weight is not due to an inability to place food on the table; ours is.
With all the wealth this country commands, no man, woman, or child should be going to bed hungry, but this is the painful decision many families face every day. While politicians live off the hog, the people are catching hell.
Building roads — many already crumbling — is not development. For people to thrive development must have a human face and this element is being ignored. And to suggest that the once or twice-a-year $100,000 cash grant is sufficient is an insult. That cash grant is not sustainable, and it cannot provide for a family’s daily needs: food, water, clothing and shelter.
In the world’s fastest-growing economy, more than half the population lives in poverty. This is proof that our national wealth is being mismanaged. And poverty on this scale, in a resource-rich nation, is a human rights violation.
Too many are living hand-to-mouth, stripped of dignity, dependent on handouts or the goodwill of others. This is a national disgrace.
The politicians are governing without conscience. They drive around in tinted, high-end vehicles, while the very workers who drive them, protect them, and serve them can barely afford food for their families or to keep a roof over their heads.
President Ali is governing in a manner that sows division in a society whose Constitution declares all citizens equal and demands justice and fair play. Yet, under his leadership, the gap between rich and poor continues to widen, as political allies are fed while the rest of the population is left to starve. This is no way to lead a nation. This is a recipe for unrest.
We, the workers, and our families must stand up and fight. This rising cost of living is not just economic — it is a direct attack on our dignity and our rights. If we don’t fight for basic rights now, we will lose them all.
There can be no equity, no peace, and no harmony unless every citizen enjoys the same protection and opportunity under the law. A society where rights are selectively applied is not a democracy. It is tyranny wrapped in red tape and ribboned with political spin.
I call on all members of society — regardless of race, class, creed, or political affiliation — to unite in defense of our rights and in support of law and justice in this country. Raise your voice alongside public servants demanding a “living wage,” because when workers are paid fairly, the standard of living for all will rise.
Let us be guided by the words of Lutheran Pastor Martin Niemöller:
“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out — Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out — Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out — Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me — and there was no one left to speak for me.”
That day must not come for Guyana. We have to fight back.
The PPP/C is growing more insensitive by the day to the cries of ordinary men and women. If this continues, it will have dire consequences — not just for the working class, but for the entire country.
