One year after a second act of arson ravaged the historic Critchlow Labour College, Guyana Trades Union Congress General Secretary Lincoln Lewis has declared that neither fire, occupation nor political pressure will silence the labour movement.
Even as the GTUC remains locked out of the College, Lewis is leading the development of a national information technology platform designed to improve communication, training and access to opportunities for trade union members across Guyana.
Training and rollout of the platform will continue during the final quarter of 2026. It represents a defining technological advancement for Guyanese trade unions at a time when organised labour says it remains under relentless attack from the PPP/C administration.
The initiative also sends a clear message: while attempts are being made to weaken traditional labour institutions, the movement is expanding its reach, modernising its operations and preparing a new generation of workers to defend their rights.
“We are not deterred,” Lewis told *Village Voice News*. “Like the phoenix, we shall rise again and be able to provide wider access for workers’ education.”
No Charges One Year After Arson
The first fire at Critchlow Labour College occurred on March 22, 2025. A second and far more destructive blaze followed on July 31, 2025.
The Guyana Fire Service concluded that both fires were deliberately set. Yet, one year later, no criminal charges have been laid.
The GTUC, which owns the College, remains unable to enter the compound, assess the damage or determine what may have disappeared from the building.
“Since the burning of the College on July 31 last year, nobody knows what has been removed,” Lewis said. “Until we regain access, the full extent of the loss remains unknown.”
The property continues to be occupied by Dr. Stanley Paul of the University of Excellence and Business Administration, who reportedly claims authority through a lease signed by College Principal Dr. Ivor English.
The GTUC maintains that the purported lease is invalid. It says the Mayor and City Council, which is responsible for the property, never approved a sublease. The agreement was also never executed by Lewis, the authorised signatory for matters concerning the College.
Locked Out, But Still Teaching
Although denied access to its classrooms, the GTUC has continued its labour-education work online.
“Whatever we have to do online, all of the business has to be done online,” Lewis said.
That work is now being strengthened through the national IT platform organised under Lewis’ leadership. The system is intended to connect trade unions and their members, improve the circulation of information and provide greater access to training, employment opportunities and other resources.
Its continued rollout during the final quarter of 2026 will mark a significant step in the modernisation of Guyana’s labour movement.
The College may be locked, but workers’ education has not stopped. The physical campus may have been damaged, but its mission is being carried into communities and workplaces through technology.
Court Order Shrouded in Uncertainty
Lewis said the court previously ordered that no construction be undertaken on the fire-damaged building while legal proceedings remain active.
However, because the GTUC is denied access, it cannot determine whether that order is being obeyed.
“The court had made an order earlier this year that no construction must be done to our building, and we are not aware of what is taking place,” he said.
The lockout has also deprived the GTUC of revenue from the property.
“We make no money from this property,” Lewis said.
Questions also remain over the keys to the College. GTUC representatives were reportedly informed that Dr. Paul had deposited keys at the Alberttown Police Station, but the keys could not be properly identified.
“They brought a bag with a set of keys, maybe a hundred or some keys,” Lewis recalled. “We don’t know any one of those keys in there.”
The matter is scheduled to return to court on October 24.
“The Labour Movement Will Not Surrender”
Opened in 1969 and named after Hubert Nathaniel Critchlow, the father of trade unionism in the British Commonwealth, Critchlow Labour College has educated generations of workers, organisers and national leaders.
Lewis called on graduates, trade unionists and supporters to stand with the institution and defend the inheritance entrusted to them by earlier generations.
He said those who believe arson, occupation or legal manoeuvres can erase the College’s legacy fundamentally misunderstand the character of organised labour.
“The labour movement has never surrendered in the face of intimidation, and it will not surrender now,” Lewis declared. “Buildings can be burned. Gates can be locked. But no one can imprison an idea whose time has come, nor extinguish the spirit of workers determined to defend what generations before them fought to build.”
The struggle, he said, is about more than recovering a fire-damaged property. It is about reclaiming a national institution, preserving the heritage of organised labour and ensuring that workers remain educated, connected and prepared to defend their rights.
With the national IT platform moving forward and the legal fight continuing, the GTUC is refusing to wait passively for justice.
Critchlow Labour College will rise again, Lewis vowed, stronger, broader and better equipped to serve Guyana’s workers.
“We have to keep fighting,” he said. “I ask workers and supporters to keep the faith.”
