Workers are not merely the hands that produce, the feet that carry, or the voices that execute decisions made elsewhere. They are citizens, taxpayers and stakeholders whose labour drives the economy. Any government or employer serious about sustainable development must therefore recognise a simple principle: workers must have a meaningful place at the decision-making table. This is not a favour to organised labour but a matter of rights, democracy and sound governance.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has long recognised that workers must have the freedom and institutional means to organise and influence decisions affecting their working lives. Convention No. 87, the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, protects workers’ freedom to form and join organisations of their choosing.
Convention No. 98, the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, requires the promotion of voluntary collective bargaining. These principles establish an important foundation: workers should not simply be informed after decisions are made; their representatives must be able to participate in shaping those decisions.
This principle is also reflected in Guyana’s Constitution. Article 147 recognises freedom of association and the right to form trade unions. More importantly, Article 149C provides that no person shall be hindered in participating in the decision-making processes of the State through organisations including trade unions. That constitutional provision speaks directly to the role of organised labour in national life.
When governments make decisions on wages/salaries, taxation, pension arrangements, labour legislation, public-sector restructuring, occupational safety, social protection or economic development, workers should not be invited merely to endorse decisions already taken. Their representatives should be involved before the decisions are finalised. There is also a practical reason for this.
Workers understand workplaces in ways that policymakers and executives sometimes do not. They know where systems fail, where resources are wasted, where safety risks exist and how policies affect families at the household level. Excluding that knowledge produces policies that may look good on paper but fail in practice.
Tripartism—the engagement of government, employers and workers—is therefore not an obstacle to development. It is a mechanism for producing better and more sustainable decisions. The ILO itself identifies freedom of association and collective bargaining as central to meaningful labour relations and social dialogue.
Guyana’s trade unions must consequently insist on more than consultation after the fact. Workers deserve representation where decisions are actually made. A democratic society cannot claim to value workers while excluding them from decisions that determine their livelihoods and future.
The trade union movement must defend this principle vigorously—not simply for today’s workers, but for generations to come. The workers who build the economy must have a voice in deciding where the economy goes.
