Labour movement fragmented by politics -- Prof Thomas By Andrew Richards Stabroek News October 7, 1999 The trades union movement in Guyana has long been modelled along political lines to the detriment of the labour force it endeavours to serve. This observation was made by Professor Clive Thomas yesterday as he delivered the feature address at the opening of the Guyana Trades Union Congress' (GTUC) Third Biennial Delegates Conference held at the National Cultural Centre. He said there was "fragmentation of the trade union movement along the lines of political party fragmentation. And, more often than not, this fragmentation reflects the obsessive competitive politics of our times, and the divisive role of race-based politics. As a consequence the trade union movement is haemorraging." The professor noted that another disadvantage was that "cosy relationships" with political parties had encouraged the entrenchment of a trade union leadership class protected by the political party structure and insulated from the rank and file of the movement. He pointed out, too, that as events became more complex, there was the unacceptable level of risk that trade unions might be diverted from their primary objective of securing their members' welfare, to advancing the interests of the political parties they were attached to. He said the movement should pursue strategic alliances, apart from political parties, in the new millennium. The trades union movement also needs to be far more pro-active than it has been and must be able to force its own priories on the national agenda, failing which, long-term adverse consequences will affect organised labour, Prof Thomas said. "...The trade union movement [should be] an active participant of in promoting and shaping the national dialogue on development. There is no other practical way to ensure that the movement's perspective on national issues are clearly articulated, communicated, and fully ventilated before decisions are taken," he told the gathering which included Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, PNC leader Desmond Hoyte, City Mayor Hamilton Green and members of the diplomatic corps. Prof Thomas stated that there was need for the restructuring of the GTUC which calls for fundamental decisions such as to establish if Guyana needed to have 24 individual trade unions. The strengthening of the trade union's role in social development and the diversification of functions, particularly with regard to commercial operations should be looked at, he stated. The professor charged that given the levels of poverty in the society there should be a massive national programme of job creation and work force skills enhancement at the top of the national agenda. He wanted to know GTUC's position on macro-economic management which, he said, had the most serious consequences for the welfare of the work force. Many weaknesses were evident in the organisational structure of the trade union movement in Guyana as the new millennium approaches, Prof Thomas stated. He said significantly less than one-half of the regular salaried work force in Guyana was unionised. Another weakness was the conflict among the unions which include the struggle for factional control of the GTUC despite affiliation to the umbrella body, he stated. He noted that there were several unions which had for decades been "little more than figments" with no real membership base. "The GTUC, as the umbrella body, more frequently than not enters into the trade union disputes only after a major breakdown has already occurred. With a large percentage of unionised workers engaged in state owned and/or supported establishments this is a grave weakness, leading to both industrial and political instability," Prof Thomas declared. The professor noted that the management of the economy had been based on the Economic Recovery Programme (ERP) for the past decade and as far back as the mid-1970s the economy had suffered from widespread wastage of productive factors, inflation and sharply declining levels of real income and welfare. He said from its inception the ERP had been premised on the containment of wage increases, particularly in the public sector, as a major part of its stabilisation policies. As a result the trade union movement faced a number of adverse structural conditions such as a rise in unemployment. Evidence also indicate the growing inequalities and the widening gaps between the haves and the have-nots, he stated. Prof Thomas, a former trade union leader, said in face of the distressing circumstances the Ministry of Labour remained ill-equipped to cope. The ministry has no labour market information system and offers no acceptable directory of employment opportunities or description of occupational and industrial employment and wage structure. Declaring the skills development programme of the ministry to be inadequate, Prof Thomas said two-thirds of the labour force had only primary education or less, making it the worst performer in terms of quality of the labour force in the Caribbean. Another inadequacy of the ministry is the ineffective enforcement capacity to combat abuses of health and safety regulations, widespread gender discrimination, frequent illegal deductions by employers, and child labour. "Some of these abuses actually occur at government agencies, and as we all know are rife in the numerous unregulated and unsupervised job sites in places as far apart as remote mining and forest, and small-scale urban operations in cities like Georgetown and New Amsterdam," he stated. The convening of the conference by the GTUC has come in for criticism by the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) which has suspended its membership from the trades union umbrella body together with the National Association of Agricultural Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE). In a statement issued yesterday before the opening, GAWU charged that the conference will take place without "burning issues" being addressed such as the "undemocratic" and "unaccountable" manner in which the operations of the GTUC are carried out. The union issued a declaration stating that it will not recognise leaders elected at the conference citing that the list of nominations announced was not reflective of a national and cohesive labour movement. A © page from: Guyana: Land of Six Peoples