Combat - MayJune11

Issue#: 3 Volume#: 32

Combat Voice of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU)

May/June 2011

THE MESSAGE OF THE MASSACRED MARTYRS Front Page Comment

Our Union’s staff, fraternal colleagues and, most importantly, our loyal members, will be informed of GAWU’s attendance and partcipation in overseas conferences, from time to time.

For example, for this year representation of the workers-members have attended the 16th WFTU Congress in Greece, the 7th International Forum on Economic Globalisation and Trades Unions in China, the IUF Caribbean Regional Conference and the 3rd Conference of the UIS in France.

The question might sometimes be asked - with genuine interest and justification - just why do representatives travel to such places; who else goes there and what does GAWU gain from such partcipation? Valid interest and queries too.

First of all it must be appreciated that GAWU’s presence at these international fraternal fora is evidence of its status in the global communuity of trade unionism.

GAWU’s affliation to these bodies indicates recogniton from them, of our own standing as a significant labour organisation - in this case the largest bargaining agent in CARICOM. Secondly, the univeral moral Solidarity membership os these international umbrealla organisations offers is most useful and necessary. GAWU will never be alone to face the challenges organised labour faces. And in practical terms the actual benefits are varied and real.

China has offered assistance to our Union. Cde Seepaul Narine’s Preisdency of the IUF Caribbean Region can be translated in speeded up benefits for GAWU’s membership and the same can be expected from Cde Komal Chand’s elevation to the WFTU Presidential Council.

So GAWU’s attendance as an affliate to these international labour organisations are not mere “trips for the boys”. Benefits accrue to our rank and file membership at all times. WFTU and IUF seminars locally empower members to be far better negotiators and representatives in the field, office and factory.

That, really, is what GAWU’s partcipation in international conferences is all about.

COMBAT: May/June, 2011

- still relevant

Allow me to join the Chairman in welcoming you to this annual event – this year it is the observance of the 63rd Anniversary of the slaying of the Enmore Martyrs. Like in previous years, this day we gather to pay our homage and respect to the fallen Enmore Martyrs – Lallabagee Kissoon; Surujballi, called Dookie; Harry; Rambarran and Lall, called Pooran.

Their martyrdom telegraphed throughout Guyana, the Caribbean and beyond the abominable working conditions which the foreign sugar barons maintained in the sugar industry over one hundred (100) years after the abolition of slavery and also over one hundred (100) years after the commencement of East Indian indentureship. The martyrs were gunned down because they decided to demand, through strike and protest, changes to the abominable working and living conditions which they were forced to endure for decades. Like in previous confrontations on other estates, the plantocracy quickly resorted to brutal suppression, showing no regard to lives in order to protect their profits, their domination, and as a warning to other workers who would want to struggle to better their lives and living conditions.

To remind you, the shooting of the strikers in 1948 was not an isolated event in the history of sugar workers’ resistance. There were sugar strikes and protests in 1869, 1872, 1873, 1876, 1879, 1888, 1894, 1896, 1899, 1903, 1905, 1913, 1914, 1924 and 1939. In every case the response of the foreign owners of the plantations and colonial police was brutal, repressive and violent. However, the blood-letting at Enmore in 1948 did not go in vain. Our five fallen comrades, not forgetting the scores who were injured, not only brought some positive changes to the sugar industry, but they helped to strengthen the resolve of a new group of political leaders, headed by our outstanding leader, Dr Cheddi Jagan, who was beginning to challenge colonial domination in our country.

At the gravesite of the Enmore Martyrs, he made the solemn pledge to dedicate his life to the struggle to free the Guyanese people from bondage and exploitation. Until his death, Comrade Cheddi Jagan remained faithful to that pledge. He fought on heroically in and out of Parliament, and never compromised his principles nor turned his back on the working people of Guyana.

It turned out that the death of the Enmore Five, comrades and friends, was an awakening call in many quarters, and especially to workers in other sectors. Cde Cheddi saw to that.

Cde Janet Jagan, former President of Guyana, opined that the death of the five martyrs sent a “thunderbolt” through the society, invigorating the liberation struggle which followed.

Indeed, the formation of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP)

within two (2) years after the Enmore Five were gunned down, and following its forerunner, the Political Affairs Committee (PAC), became the vehicle which guided and led the struggles in Guyana since 1950 for freedom and democracy and workers’ rights.

Many have pointed out GAWU President Cde Komal Chand already that delivering the address the struggle of the Guyanese people makes a major part of Guyana’s history. And, in that history, several chapters would have been devoted to the struggles of the sugar workers. Their struggles not only spanned centuries, but, particularly after 1948 the sugar workers became increasingly active in political struggles in the country. The brutal repression of 1948, did not daunt the workers nor dampen their spirits. Indeed, militancy in the industry grew, and political awareness and activities expanded.

Sugar workers’ right to be represented by a Union of their choice, one of the objectives of the Enmore strike, was won in 1976, almost three (3) decades after the gunning down of the Enmore Five. Sugar workers, under the aegis of GAWU, have taken part, along with other working people, in the struggles for political independence; they championed the nationalization of the sugar industry, and when the Government nationalized it on May 26, 1976, they welcomed and Continued on page two Page One

THE MESSAGE OF THE MASSACRED MARTYRS

Continued from page one

supported that act. They stood up and fought for the restoration of democratic elections, which triumphed with the October, 1992 elections. These struggles took place side by side with other struggles to improve wages and working conditions throughout the industry, and for other workers.

But from the heroic example of the Enmore Five, this generation of workers must draw a lesson, still applicable in our day. That lesson is found in other struggles and all countries.

It is that the poor and oppressed and exploited that must make their demands, and stand up and fight for their just dues and rights.

Life teaches that there will always arise those who, whether through directions or on their own, will seek to undermine the workers and their organisations. There will be those who will try to hoodwink us that they care, while seeking to plunge a dagger in our backs. There will be those who will give us a thin slice of the cake while others grow fat from their share. We, as workers, cannot drop our guard. To do so, will be to our peril.

GAWU Derecognition GAWU urges this vigilance based on our experience in recent times. Mainly, I refer to the threat last December to derecognize GAWU. We will recall that the blood of the Enmore Martyrs was spilled in their quest for the recognition of GAWU’s forerunner – the Guiana Industrial Workers Union (GIWU). On 16th December, 2010, in an unprecedented and outrageous act, the Guyana Sugar Corporation (Guysuco) sent to GAWU, after working hours, a letter which read in part: “The Corporation wishes to inform you that it is considering to terminate the Recognition and Avoidance and Settlement of Disputes (Agreement) dated 27th February, 1976 that currently subsists between your Union and the Corporation”. We heard that the letter was sent because the Corporation had been uncomfortable with the Union’s forthright representation on issues like pay rise, Annual Production Incentive (API), the upholding of the conditions set out in the Union/Guysuco Collective Labour Agreement, etc.

The threat to derecognize GAWU astounded us in the Union and beyond. The five martyred workers must have been turning in their graves. Dr N.K. Gopaul, head of Guysuco’s Board, said it was a tactic employed by the Board and the Management. But then it is known Guysuco did not hold a Board Meeting on the matter. The Minister of Agriculture and the Minister of Labour, who have responsibility relating to the sugar industry and industrial relations’ matters respectively, informed the Union that they had no involvement in the authorship of the letter. The President, on his return to Guyana from Brazil on the evening of December 17, 2010, immediately distanced himself from the letter of the State Corporation.

I wish to recall what I said last May Day: “The Union is puzzled that an attempt to what in effect would have amounted to sabotage of the industry, nothing is being done to expose and strongly discipline the culprit or culprits who may be guilty. This we find to be very interesting, and inaction may tell its own tale.

The GAWU wants to believe that the present administration would not condone that threat. Thus, in a situation of inaction by Guysuco, the GAWU is suggesting that the President considers intervening in this matter.”

At this forum, I wish to call on all trade unions to be relentless in their position, and their solidarity support must be automatic whenever there is the derecognition of a union or a threat to derecognize a union outside the stipulations COMBAT: May/June, 2011

of the law. Certainly, had the threat to derecognize GAWU not been rebuffed expeditiously, and the threatened retaliatory actions by the workers were not pronounced, and had the Union gone meekly to “seek clarification”, as opined by the Head of Guysuco’s Board; as soon as the Union pursues any significant matter not to the Corporation’s liking, there would have been the derecognition of the Union, since the Corporation would have become emboldened with its derecognition threat.

Cut and Load System Comrades, speaking about the recognition of GAWU, I wish to recall, also, that the introduction of the “cut and load” system was a fundamental issue which perpetuated the Enmore Strike in 1948. Today, the Guyana Sugar Corporation (Guysuco) is advancing the introduction of Bell Loaders within the industry. These machines are transporting harvested canes from the fields to punts. So the days of the controversial cut

A section of the attendees at the Enmore Martyrs Rally and load system are numbered.

Sugar Industry Comrades, it is heartening to see that sugar production for this crop is at 106,286 tonnes this morning, of the targeted 138,791 tonnes, with three (3) estates still in operation. It is the highest first crop production for the past six (6) years, noting that in the years 2002, 2003 and 2004, production was 128,699 tonnes, 127,961 tonnes and 127,610 tonnes respectively. At the end of the second crop this year, the industry has targeted itself to produce 298,879 tonnes. The achievement of this year’s target is basically dependent on adequate canes in the fields, and the ability of the Skeldon factory to crush the canes reaped at an acceptable tonnes cane to tonne sugar ratio.

We are delighted to see on board the US$12M Enmore Packaging Plant which was commissioned last May. It is capable, we are advised, to package 40,000 tonnes of valueadded sugar per year. The Corporation needs to identify the time-line when such level of production would be realized.

The Corporation is receiving from its current production of value added sugar at Blairmont Estate about 45 per cent more than the price it receives for its raw sugar.

Comrades, the Corporation needs to be forthright with sugar workers and the public with respect to the status of the new state-of-the-art Skeldon Factory, which has been commissioned two and a half years ago. Workers need to know clearly, what are the defects inhibiting the factory’s performance, the cost to fix them, and the time-frame to ensure that the factory’s performance is in keeping with its design.

Higher Rate of Pay I need to lament the non-implementation of a five per cent

rise in the rate of pay of sugar workers from January 01, 2011.

Workers in the public and private sectors got new rates of pay this year based on their increase in pay, last year. While sugar workers got a five (5) per cent increase in pay they are still paid at their 2009 rates of pay. It is most discriminatory to treat the nation’s sugar workers so disrespectfully. Sugar workers are becoming incensed at the procrastination. They would not like to see the delay last beyond June 30, 2011.

While the five (5) per cent additional rate-of-pay issue ought to be urgently addressed, we are pleased finally that the retrenched workers of Diamond Estate will receive their severance pay cheques on (Sunday) June 19, 2011 commencing from 10:00am. This assurance was given to the Union this morning. We wish to advise the workers to save their entitlements and carefully utilize same in productive endeavours.

The Minister of Agriculture has given the assurance that the Diamond workers who wish to take up fresh employment at LBI Estate would be welcome to do so. We wish to advise workers not to choose to be unemployed since they have the option to continue to work in the industry.

Lastly on sugar, the wild and irresponsible talk and call for the privatization of the industry will not be kindly accepted by the thousands of sugar workers and the small holding cane farmers of our country. The tentacles of the industry reach into every facet of lives of the people of our country.

The industry’s importance to the nation should not be underestimated. Its network of drainage and irrigation services is not restricted to providing fresh water to and draining Guysuco’s cultivation. Its Port Mourant Training Centre, graduating young and skilled workers for the nation, is second to none in the Caribbean. Its community centres and playgrounds reach out to all. It is a major and net foreign exchange earner. These are only some of the benefits which the sugar industry is making possible. If a private company can run the industry efficiently and make it sustainable, why can’t we? We must resist privatization of sugar. Let us not go back to the colonial-type of relationship. Let us not entrap our people and country to a programme that can only serve capitalism, and not the working people.

Conclusion Comrades, in the sentiments of my concluding section of my address last year I wish to end this year’s presentation.

Comrades, as we celebrate and mark the Enmore Martyrs Day, we must also focus on the era in which we are living today. It is an era that is marked by economic crises, wars, ecological degradation, and erratic climate behaviour, growing poverty and constant assaults on the working-class throughout the world.

We live in the era where neo-liberalism holds sway – a model of capitalism that emphasizes privatization, transfer of state assets to private individuals, plunder of resources, assault on workers and so on. It is a model which is at the root of the growing poverty worldwide, and we must always be mindful that ruling elites will not want to give up their privileges or their plundering and greedy ways. Workers must remain in these situations alert, united and organized.

It is in this context, also, that we see the significance of the Enmore Martyrs. They stood up against injustice, they fought for a fair deal; they demanded better conditions in their work, in their lives and for their families’ future.

In Europe today, we see similar struggles going on and intensifying against the neo-liberal brand of capitalism. We are also seeing it rejected in several countries in Latin America.

In our times, the Enmore Martyrs are even more relevant.

This enduring message we should not forget. The working class must be always vigilant, militant, organizationally strong and united, and must raise the banner of solidarity always.

Page Two

Guysuco records highest First Crop production in six years The Guyana Sugar Corporation (Guysuco), for the first time in six (6) consecutive years, surpassed the production of 105,000 tonnes of sugar in its first crop. When the crop ended on week ending June 25, 2011, the production reached 106,870 tonnes, falling short of the target which was 138,791 tonnes, by 31,921 tonnes.

The prevailing rainy conditions for many weeks in the crop significantly impinged on the progress of the harvesting of the crop. The following table indicates the performance of each estate:Estate Skeldon Albion Rose Hall Blairmont Enmore LBI Wales Uitvlugt Total

Production 10,435 28,503 15,430 17,611 9,479 4,209 10,752 10,451 106,870

Target % Achieved 34,203 30.5 31,444 90.6 14,656 105.3 15,940 110.6 12,636 75.0 6,894 61.1 12,106 88.8 11,212 93.2 138,791 77.0

The extremely low sugar production at Skeldon is attributable, not only to the weather phenomenon, but the debilitating performance of the new state-of-theart Skeldon factory which was commissioned less than three (3) years ago. It has been reported that on occasions the factory utilized almost forty (40) tonnes of canes to produce a tonne of sugar. On the onset of the crop, the factory was targeted to utilize eleven (11) tonnes of cane to produce a tonne of sugar. The estate ended the crop utilizing about seventeen (17) tonnes of cane to produce a tonne of sugar. Since the new factory commenced grinding in March, 2009, five (5) months before it was commissioned, the Estates neth extraction of revenue from the Corporation in any yearly period is believably greater than the revenue it has been generating to the cash-strapped Corporation.

GAWU officially pronounced, on June 16, 2011 at the

Enmore Martyrs Rally, among other things, “the Corporation needs to be forthright with sugar workers and the public with respect to the status of the new stateof-the-art Skeldon Factory, which has been commissioned two and a half years ago. Workers need to know clearly what are the defects inhibiting the factory’s performance, the cost to fix them, and the time frame to ensure that the factory’s performance is in keeping with its design”.

The second crop has commenced at Rose Hall Estate on week ending July 15, 2011. Blairmont and Uitvlugt Estates are to commence on week ending July 22, 2011; Skeldon, Enmore and Wales Estates on week ending August 05, 2011; and Albion on week ending August 12, 2011.

The Corporation disclosed to the Union, on June 20, 2011, that it would have 2.1 million tonnes of canes to reap during the second crop of this year. If indeed such quantity of cane is available, and everything being equal the Corporation’s targeted production at the end of the year of 298,879 tonnes should be achieved.

To reach the year’s production, the industry ought to produce 191,858 tonnes of sugar. The last time the industry produced over 190,000 tonnes of sugar in the second crop was in 2004.

The Union sees that a production of almost 300,000 tonnes of sugar this year would redound to the benefit of the workers, and, of course, the Corporation as a whole. The Corporation, unable to sell some of its sugar on the world market, where the prevailing price over the past months has been close to US 28 cents per pound, would be able to do so if indeed the year’s target is reached, since the Corporation would have a surplus quantity of sugar after it has fulfilled its supplies to its contractual market, including its largest market in the European Union of 189,000 tonnes.

The second crop commences in a conducive atmosphere, to workers’ satisfaction. The industry imple-

mented, with effect from July 03, 2011 five (5) per cent increase in pay in conformity with the five (5) per cent one-off payment on workers’ earnings for 2010.

The Union’s President, Cde Komal Chand, in his address on June 16, 2011 at the Enmore Martyrs Rally, said: “I need to lament the non-implementation of a five per cent rise in the rate of pay of sugar workers from January 01, 2011. Workers in the public and private sectors got new rates of pay this year based on their increase in pay, last year. While sugar workers got a five (5) per cent increase in pay they are still paid at their 2009 rates of pay. It is most discriminatory to treat the nation’s sugar workers so disrespectfully. Sugar workers are becoming incensed at the procrastination”.

The Union has been pressing for the new rate since the beginning of the year. The Corporation imposed an extraneous position for the implementation of the five (5) per cent. Firstly, the workers were required to produce 300,000 tonnes sugar this year (2011). Last, the Corporation altered its position that the first crop production of 138,791 tonnes must be attained for the five (5) per cent to be implemented. The Union rejected both conditions, since it was not a condition approved by the Union and the Corporation prior to the commencement of the year. Indeed, it would be a folly on the part of the Union to agree to such conditionality knowing fully well availability of adequate canes and prolonged unfavourable weather conditions, etc could prohibit the attainment of a target which has not been properly determined; especially when it is noted that the Corporation’s targets over the past six (6) years fell short significantly. Arising from the implementation of the new rate on July 03, 2011, the retroactive payments from January 01 to July 02, 2011 were paid to workers on July 15, 2011.

The Union and the Corporation are considering this year’s (2011) increase in pay. The Corporation has offered a five (5) per cent rise. The parties have met on five (5) occasions up to July 18, 2011. So far, discussions surround the non-direct monetary claims of the Union.

Diamond workers receive Severance Pay

convened public meeting at the Diamond Secondary School on May 14, 2011, President Jagdeo said: “The reason I intervened is because I didn’t want this to last forever… and secondly, because I feel people should not be kept against their will”, During the meeting, President Jagdeo told the workers that he wanted to determine whether severance pay was the preferred option of the overwhelming majority of workers on the estate, but more importantly, to ensure there is worker satisfaction. He said “I am more concerned about keeping people to work, but when they are dissatisfied you don’t really get the best of people.”

Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud told the workers that Guyanese workers in any sector are “of paramount importance to the presiSugar workers of the Diamond Estate at the meeting dent, government and party”. He insisted that Seventeen (17) months after workers who were the visit and commitment of the government are beengaged at Diamond Estate cultivation were unilater- yond politics. He pleaded for the workers to be optimisally transferred to work at LBI Estate the approximately tic, even in the face of challenges.

The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union 375 person workforce were awarded their Severance (GAWU) represented to the Guyana Sugar Corporation Pay on June 19, 2011 following the intervention of His (Guysuco), at the time of the transfer of the workers, Excellency, President Bharrat Jagdeo. At a speciallytheir right to Severance Pay. The Union cited the TerCOMBAT: May/June, 2011

mination of Employment and Severance Pay Act, which stipulates that one of the grounds of severance pay is if continuous employment is offered more than ten (10) miles away from their original work location, then the workers’ jobs have become redundant.

The Corporation, in its Turnaround Plan, which was conceived without an iota of input from the two (2) sugar unions and released in April, 2009, out of the blue, disclosed that the Diamond cultivation would be gotten rid of and the land would be put on sale for the sum of G$30.6B (US$153M). The jobs of the workers at Diamond Estate consequently became redundant a few months later.

GAWU, in the light of the resolution of the dispute is to advise its Attorney-at-Law to withdraw the lawsuit since its validity is no longer relevant.

The Union wishes to record its satisfaction with the intervention of President Bharrat Jagdeo, who made the resolution of the dispute, at this time possible rather than to await what might have been a long delay in addressing the matter by the Court. It would have been more favourable if the President had intervened much earlier, when the workers were initially ordered by the Corporation to take up work at LBI Estate.

Page Three

Meet Seelochanie From DeKenderen Logie to Shop Steward & 26 years of service to sugar In this edition of Combat, we profile retired sugar worker Cde Seelochanie, who dedicated twenty-six (26) years’ service to the Guyana Sugar Corporation (Guysuco) at Uitvlugt Estate. Cde Seelochanie was born on February 13, 1945 at De Kenderen Logie. She is the third of nine children born to Cyril Kassirem and Basmattie, who were both employed at De Kenderen Estate as a cane cutter and weeder respectively.

Cde Seelochanie joined the sugar industry at Uitvlugt Estate as a weeder in January, 1976, and soon after she became a member of the recognized sugar union, the Man Power Citizens Association (MPCA). The gang’s shop steward solicited her membership. She complied recognising that she needed the Union’s protection as a worker, especially in an industry that was foreign-

BEV Processors/GAWU in Agreement for 2011

BEV Processors Inc and the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) concluded negotiations on May 24, 2011, resulting in the Company’s 350-person workforce obtaining an eight (8) per cent across the board increase, effective from January 01, 2011. Other benefits are increases to meal and attendance allowances along with improvements to the Severance Pay Formula, guaranteed hours of pay on Saturdays, and survivors grant in the case of industrial death.

The Company’s negotiating team was led by Bruce Vieira, Managing Director and owner of the Company, and the Union’s delegation was led by its General Secretary, Cde Seepaul Narine, and included the Branch Committee which comprises, among others, five (5) shop stewards.

The Union and the Company are to append the Agreement shortly.

COMBAT: May/June, 2011

owned and which had a poor labour record. At the time of her employment, the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) was in the process of replacing the MPCA, which had been vilified for many years by the overwhelming majority of field and factory workers of the sugar industry for its failure to represent their interests. The MPCA was widely regarded as a company union not only by the industry’s workforce, but by the populace generally.

Cde Seelochanie did not see herself as a mere worker.

She grasped the opportunity to become a shop steward on the retirement of the incumbent. The new recognized union (GAWU), on February 27, 1976, required its shop steward to be elected and not selected as was in the regime of the MPCA. Not surprisingly, the members of her gang elected her because she had displayed leadership qualities within the first days of her engagement. During her almost quarter-century stint in the sugar industry, Seelochanie remained a proud and active member of GAWU. She remained a shop steward, since, at the yearly gang elections, her colleagues confidence in her leadership was not on the wane.

She said that she was proud of the experience she obtained in the struggles of the Trade Union Movement, particularly GAWU. She remembers the clamour

of GAWU for the nationalization of the sugar industry, which took place in May, 1976. She remembered also the participation of GAWU, and by extension sugar workers, in the struggle for the restoration of free, fair and transparent elections. She said: “it was a long, long struggle”, since four (4) elections were rigged over a twenty-eight-(28)-year period.

Cde Seelochanie attended a number of seminars and a few trade union courses, which enabled her to provide better leadership as a shop steward. Seelochanie was appropriately awarded by the Union at the 15th Congress in 1997 for “Valuable and Dedicated Service to the Union”. She was also awarded by Guysuco as a Champion Worker at Uitvlugt Estate in 1998.

Nevertheless, with Seelchonie’s retirement as a worker in February, 2001, she continued to attend GAWUsponsored public activities as her health permitted. She disclosed that the Union continues to make her feel proud, as she referred to the GAWU Labour College, which was commissioned over a year ago.

In her comment to the Union, Seelochanie said that above all, her husband supported and encouraged her to become dedicated to her trade union activities. She feels that her husband was a great partner in her life.

GAWU completes Area Conferences

bice.

The highlight of both conferences was the Report of the General Council of the Union which outlined important events which were attended to by the Union since its 19th Congress in August, 2009, and was presented by the Union’s General Secretary, Cde Seepaul Narine. There was active participation by delegates and union officials, contributing to the General Council Report. Speakers highlighted work place issues and spoke to the need for higher remuneration for workers in the private and state sectors, including Corporations, owing to higher cost-of-living resulting from higher food prices.

Delegates and observers attending the Demerara Area Conference Five (5) resolutions were approved unaniThe Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Unmously; on the Sugar Industry, Annual Proion (GAWU) successfully concluded two (2) Area Con- duction Incentive, Unity of the Working Class, Income ferences in Demerara and Berbice under the theme: Tax Threshold and implementation of a five (5) per cent “Strengthening the Union, Combat Derecognition, Im- increase on workers’ rate of pay from January 01, 2011. proving Workers’ Welfare”. In keeping with the rules of GAWU is steadfast in holding its Congress, Area Conthe Union, the Union is required to hold Area Confer- ferences, Annual Branch Conferences. It strives to have ences between the Triennial Congresses of the Union. the functioning of its branches to ensure an active link, The Union’s next Triennial Congress will take place next as far as possible, with its rank and file. Statutory meetyear (2012) after July. ings of the Central Executive Committee and the GenThe Demerara Area Conference was held on (Sunday) eral Council are held throughout the year. GAWU is also June 12, 2011 at the Kingston Secondary School. The proud of its yearly audited statement provided by the Conference was attended by a representative group- Office of the Auditor General. The Statements for year ing of two hundred and fifteen (215) members from ended 31st December 2010 have already been issued among the Union’s membership in Demerara. in accordance with Section 22 (1) of the Trade Union The Berbice Area Conference was held on (Sunday) Act, Chapter 98:03 of the Laws of Guyana. This is veriJuly 03, 2011 at the Skeldon Primary School. The Con- fiable testimony to the institution’s democratic nature ference was attended by two hundred and sixty (260) and adherence to structured regulations. members drawn from the Union’s membership in BerPage Four

“Against capitalist barbarism, for social justice and a world without exploitation” GAWU at the 16th Congress of the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) April 6 - 10, 2011 • Athens, Greece

A Historic Congress

“...against capital and imperialism...” defined the work of the five-day Congress of 881 delegates and observers from 104 countries assembled in Athens in April. Representing nearly 80 million workers world-wide from well over 200 labour organizations, delegates to the Congress assembled to assess the work of the Federation and plan for the future struggle “against capitalist barbarism, for social justice and a world without exploitation.”

The enemy is one: imperialism! Capitalism is not our world. It’s the New World, socialism!

The worker’s right is our law and not the capitalist’s profit! Come on people, don’t give up, the only way is to resist and fight! A chant taken up by the militant workers of PAME throughout the Congress.

On April 6, the 16th Congress of the WFTU opened with a rousing demonstration attended by over 4,000 working class citizens of Athens and international delegates and observers. After energetic, stirring songs and chants, the delegates, observers and friends witnessed a video tracing the 65 years of the WFTU. The General-Secretary of the WFTU noted the deepening crisis of capitalism, marked by massive and growing unemployment, the enormous debt piled up from rescuing capitalist enterprises and for military adventure, and the escalating battle against workers through work-place “flexibility”, destruction of social benefits, privatization, and increased exploitation. He projected unemployment as the most important issue, and committed the WFTU to the fight for a 35-hour week/7hour working day.

He cited the deaths of 2 million workers in the work place every year as an example of capitalist indifference, and the 22% increase in military spending from 2007-2008 as an example of waste and imperialist warmongering.

Mavrikos pledged to grow the Federation, preserve its militancy and further the work advanced since the last Congress. He warned that much of the labour movement has atrophied and that “...a trade union that does not strike is for decoration.” At the same time, he was open and candid about some of the weaknesses of the WFTU, including financial commitments, communication, and opportunism.

Over 120 delegates and observers spoke at the 16th WFTU Congress, including the Vice Chairman of the All-

Delegates and Observers at the Opening Ceremony of the 16th WFTU Congress

China Federation of Trade Unions, and the President of the Vietnamese General Confederation of Labour.

Leaders of major organizations from Africa (OATUU), the Arab countries (ICATU) as well as numerous unions and federations in Central and South America made militant reports and statements. COSATU from South Africa had a strong and militant presence and gave indications that it will soon join the WFTU fraternity. COSATU international relations secretary Bongoni Masuku said: “Capitalism is responsible for poverty, unemployment and illiteracy. We struggle against these conditions, and thanks to WFTU, we are given the chance to express our solidarity to all peoples that try to resist!”

Representatives from the Cuban labour movement were active in the work of the Congress. Salvador Valdes Mesa, General-Secretary of the Central Organization of Cuban Workers (CTC) noted: “Thanks to our socialist system and the solidarity expressed by the peoples of the world, we managed to maintain our social and trade-union rights. We have also expressed our solidarity towards the peoples of the world, like in

Haiti. We will struggle and participate actively within WFTU so that it becomes a wider, democratic, classoriented and anti-imperialistic organization.”

Solidarity Messages to the Congress were received from Raul Castro, Hugo Chavez, and Evo Morales, as well as the Presidents of Syria and Cyprus. These were all read to the Congress.

The Congress closed with the election of a new, expanded Presidential Council, representative of men and women leading the working class throughout the world.

The WFTU was established on October 03, 1945 in Paris, France. The foundation of the WFTU was seen as indicative of the new era that had opened with the defeat of fascism at the hands of the anti-fascist alliance of states. The working people and the democratic forces saw in that victory the new future of the world, where imperialism and colonialism would retreat and where freedom, peace, democracy and prosperity would advance for all humankind.

GAWU President Address

On behalf of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), I bring you warmest greetings of solidarity. Allow me to take this, opportunity to salute the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) on the occasion of this its Sixteenth Congress, and in particular PAME for its material support to make this Congress a reality. Our Union is honoured once again to take part in the proceedings of the congress of this organisation, a body which has contributed significantly in solidarity and other support of workers throughout the world. This Congress, we are certain, would make a full analysis of the world situation, identify issues which workers across the globe ought to address, and, undoubtedly, at the end of this Congress, the WFTU would emerge much stronger and more united.

Comrades, as we meet, the capitalist system is ensnared in its greatest crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The financial turmoil that began in September 2008 with the sudden failure of Wall Street has grown into a global economic breakdown. For decades, the apologists of capitalism have proclaimed that countries should orient their economies to pursue neoliberal policies.

In much of the world, developed and developing countries alike, we see the dismal failure and growing rejection of these policies. They have led to the present economic crisis that is now going into its third year, and which has unleashed severe suffering upon millions of workers, the oppressed, the youth and students of many countries of the globe. When the disaster struck in 2008, the governments in the de-

veloped world intervened with a desperate infusion of hundreds of billions of dollars to save the capitalist elite class and the capitalist system from collapse. The massive emergency bailout, utilizing taxpayers’ money, protected the wealth of the ruling class of the affected countries, but failed to contain the crisis.

While the corporate elite received billions, the workers are given packages with austerity measures. The politicians who bailed out the banks now proclaim that “there is no money” for essential social programmes. Pension plans are being reneged on, thousands and thousands of public workers are being laid off, wage cuts and freezes are being implemented, the retirement age is increased in some cases; and at the same time, taxes are increased, state agencies privatised, and social programmes and benefits slashed. The politicians have argued that these reforms are necessary to ensure fiscal balance but this will only serve to deepen the widespread poverty and destitution.

Comrades, the Greek workers stood in the forefront of the converging European class struggle against capital’s attempt to make working people pay the costs of its crisis. Other workers all across Europe are continuing their mobilization and are opposing the austerity drive. We are encouraged by the revitalized fightback of these segments of the international working class. We salute their courageous struggles, and from this forum, I extend to them unqualified solidarity.

The struggles of workers in the United States, triggered by the Wisconsin contingent, have also, rightly gained international attention and support.

Here, too, the ruling class and their hand maidens are carrying out an assault on workers. Under the pretext of “budget shortfalls”, measures are taken to undermine Unions. Particularly threatened is the right to collective bargaining of public employees’ unions. This constitutes a most blatant attack on trade unions and workers. Such threats must be forthrightly condemned by the WFTU. At the same time, the significance of these mass workers’ struggles must be underlined. They have the potential of opening up a major new front of struggles in the “belly of the beast”.

In addition to the financial/economic crisis

Scenes from the 16th WFTU Congress

spawned by the moribund capitalist system, other major challenges and issues today confront working peoples and other social strata worldwide. In the struggles mounted around these challenges of global concern, workers are playing no small role; at times, even a leading role.

We also face an ecological crisis in these times. An erratic climate and natural disasters wreak havoc for millions and pose a grave danger to humanity.

Japan is the latest painful and traumatic victim of this threat. It is a threat, it seems, that finds regular, if not daily, manifestation in all corners of our planet. While civilization is so threatened, we note the intransigence and ambivalence coming from many developed countries which stand accused as being primarily responsible for the environmental condition that is ravaging lives and livelihoods. In the same breath, we must give deserving recognition to those governments, countries and organisations which, in words and deeds, are in the forefront in addressing the environmental question.

The data and predictions provided by scientists are dire. Whilst workers and trade unions have embraced this cause wholeheartedly, a strong case exists for our intensified actions, for coordinated actions globally, and for united actions with other environmentalists.

The very ruling circles that have provoked nature through the pursuit of super profits, plunder of countries’ resources and degradation of the environment have also plunged several countries and regions of the world, directly with allies or through surrogates, into wars with their attendant massive destruction, mass slaughter of womenfolk, the aged, children, war crimes, torture. Imperialism and its agents do so under the pretext of fighting terrorism and protecting their citizens. They do so under the cover of so-called humanitarian intervention. They do so in flagrant violation of international law. Justification is sought by false claims of defending or promoting such lofty values as democracy and human rights.

As we meet here, the mass slaughter and destruction go on unabatedly. Iraq’s war is now in its eighth year. Afghanistan’s war is longer, and in addition to President Obama’s surge, it has widened

to become the Afghanistan-Pakistan war, where US drones nowadays seem to be the weapon of choice for targeted killings. The atrocities against the Palestinians by colonialist and apartheid Israel, supported by the US, is ongoing. And the imperialist aggression in Libya opened up another theatre of war in North Africa.

Insightful analysts and social scientists tell us that such wars and other conflicts are motivated by imperialists’ dreams of hegemony, by geo-strategic considerations, but mostly by interests in the oil wealth of the countries.

Imperialists wars and war-mongering, as we well know, are inimical to working peoples’ interests.

The bottom line of such wars is to conquer and perpetuate exploitation, both of peoples and resources. They provide sustenance, too, to the voracious appetites for profits for the military-industrial complexes, more particularly that of the USA. The WFTU has a record of consistent opposition to such wars. My union’s condemnation, which I repeat in the strongest terms, is also on record.

Clearly, militarism is playing an increasingly bigger role in international relations. Therefore, our efforts and united actions around peace and disarmament, especially nuclear disarmament, must also grow and expand. This is a necessity of our times.

Comrades, solidarity, over the decades has been one of the enduring pillars of the international working class. In these times of turmoil, grave dangers and disasters, solidarity becomes an important weapon in the hands of the world’s oppressed and exploited peoples. The moral and material support we offer strengthen the will and buttress the resolve and courage of those withstanding assaults directed against them by the Empire, other ruling elites, and those who do their bidding.

With this in mind, my Union, at this WFTU forum, wishes to place on record its solidarity:1. With the Palestinian people who are languishing, it is observed, in the largest open-air prison in human history, overseen by the colonialist Israel with the military support of the USA; 2. With the genuinely nationalist, democratic and

progressive forces of the Middle East, North Africa and Asia, who are resisting foreign military aggression and domination; who are uprising against autocratic regimes and demanding democracy and political freedoms; 3. With those forces in Honduras and Haiti where the democratically-elected governments have been overthrown with US involvement or US sanction, where the peoples now face stiff repression and are struggling for democracy for the nations; 4. With Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and those other leaders and governments of Latin America, who, despite intrigues and destablisation attempts, are steadily forging ahead on the arduous path of asserting their dignity and their self-determination whilst lifting their working people out of the depths of poverty; 5. With the Cuban Government leaders and people, who continue to defy all odds in their development process, who remain an example for selfless solidarity to the world, who have made their country a shining beacon for the world’s peoples.

We also raise our voice to call for the release of the Cuban five incarcerated in the US. 6. With the working class of the world, fighting against austerity, reduction of wages, weakening of trade union rights, attack on pensioners, and the drastic reduction of social benefits which have been gained in their long and difficult struggles in the past.

And, in this respect, our thoughts go to Japan, which is experiencing grievous times, from the earthquake, tsunami and a nuclear crisis. Not only should we see it as an example of the threats the world faces, but we need to extend heartfelt empathy, do whatever we can to comfort those suffering losses, grief-stricken and traumatized. Likewise, such expressions must also go to those who have suffered in New Zealand, Indonesia, Australia, China, and all peoples who have been severely affected by recent natural disasters.

Equally, the workers of the world cannot neglect the poor, as we have not, for whom hunger stalks on a daily basis. Hundreds of millions - and the numbers keep growing - of our contemporaries who live in poverty and squalor. We must continue to make their plight our fight too.

Scenes from the 16th WFTU Congress

Comrades, like the unions and workers in Greece and elsewhere, my Union, the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), is engaged in a multifaceted struggle to secure appropriate wages and other benefits for our members, especially in the sugar industry. We, too, face hurdles thrown in our path by some over-zealous members of the state corporation our members work for. Just months ago, they threatened our Union with derecognition, but which was, however, thwarted by the intervention of the Head of State. But this small example goes to show that trade unions and workers in the developed as well as the developing countries, must remain eternally vigilant against attempts, open and covert, to roll back gains, divide and weaken our unity, and undermine our struggles for economic justice and social progress.

Comrades, We are witnessing today a revitalized activism across the globe. The working class are in the frontline of today’s fresh struggles. Changes of a profound nature are beaconing. We need to go confidently and unitedly forward to influence and bring about such changes in our lives, our societies and globally.

Our past struggles brought us many laudable gains; our present struggles also hold the promise of significant advances while preventing capitalism/imperialism from riding roughshod over our lives.

The WFTU has a packed agenda of critical issues to address. However, the world situation demands that we face up to and make our decisive contributions to these questions.

And, as we continue in our tasks to take on the challenges of our times, let us draw inspiration from Karl Marx’s clarion call which has come down through the decades:Workers of all lands unite!

The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains!

They have a world to win Long live Proletarian Internationalism!

The Athens Pact

The global capitalist system is in the middle of a deep and multifaceted economic crisis of the system itself.

Everywhere around us we see markets clogged from goods and wealth beyond imagination concentrated in the pockets of few; we see destruction of wealth-producing forces and depreciation of the main producing force, which is the working class.

We see rapidly rising unemployment, declining of GDP and world trade, and, of course, an ever-growing poverty and misery for billions of people on the planet, both in developed capitalist countries, as well as (even more) in the so-called developing economies, though the enormous potential of science and technology, which could provide a general popular prosperity.

And any honest and conscientious worker, every union functionary who respects himself and his colleagues he represents, cannot, in such circumstances, evade or fail to adopt the conclusions of the great thinker of the working class, Karl Marx, that evidently proved that the “capitalist mode of production is not eternal, and that historically has been exceeded.”

Marx revealed through his work that: “The economic crisis exposes the basic contradiction of capitalism - the contradiction between the social character of production and the capitalist form of ownership of means of production and the appropriation of its results. In crises, the whole mechanism of the capitalist mode of production keels under the pressure of the productive forces which capitalism itself has created.” As aptly stated by Engels, “The productive forces rebel against the relations of production which they’ve surpassed, they left behind (...). Means of production, means of maintenance, available workers; that is to say, all factors of production and social wealth are superabounding”.

Despite the notes of optimism which the representatives of the capitalist system skilfully convey whenever there is a “minimum” positive sample in one or another economy, and despite their estimates for positive growth in world GDP in 2010, the economic crisis of capitalism continues its destructive course. The common component of the estimation of imperialist centres and agencies is their anxiety for the weak recovery path in the Euro zone and the U.S. In all reports, it is indicated that the “fragile” recovery, mainly in the U.S. and much less in the Euro zone, is only a temporary result of a major state support towards capitalist enterprises, a support that cannot go smoothly for a

long time. These anxieties of the ruling classes explain, also, the differences within itself about the nature of the economic policy to be followed (restrictive or expansionary policy).

From the standpoint of the working classes’ interests, any such differences are the two sides of the same coin.

No “managing” policy taking place on the territory of capitalism can remove the inherent contradictions of the system, or can bring concessions and victories as before, when the conditions were different.

The data for the depth of the current crisis of capitalism are absolutely indicative: The U.S. trade deficit this year is foreseen to be $ 150 billion higher than last year, and is expected to reach $ 1.6 trillion - the highest since the end of World War II - or 11% of U.S. GDP. The total debt is around U.S. $ 12 trillion or 98% of the GDP! The number of problematic banks in the U.S. continues to grow, and at the end of the year 2009, 702 banks were considered to be in a problematic situation. It is estimated that 581 small (for the U.S. measures) banks are at risk of collapse by 2011.

Governments worldwide will have to provide $ 6 trillion this year to finance packages of “salvation” for problematic firms and their deficits. Economies such as that of Germany, which were considered the “engines” of European capitalist development, are facing the spectre of a sharp increase in government debt (from 60% of GDP in 2002 to 77% in 2010).

A series of smaller capitalist economies (Greece, Lithuania, Estonia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Portugal, Ireland etc.) show rates of public external debt which are close to or exceed much more the 100% of their GDP. The public debt of Japan reaches 10 trillion $ or, in other words two times the GDP of this huge imperialist power!

All problems are presented as “national problems”, thus hiding the class nature of the crisis. They hide which social classes bear the real burdens of the crisis. Despite the systematic efforts of the ruling class to show the economic crisis as a “national” problem and as something that requires a “joint effort by all”, the current crisis of capitalism proves once again that the capital is always trying to exit the crisis by loading its burdens on the working class and other poor popular strata.

So in a period of sharp rise in unemployment, dramatic shrinking of the real income of workers, reduction of social spending budgets, raising of the retirement age, a series of facts show the parasitism and the decay of the capitalist system. In Britain, the income of the rich saw an increase of 30% last year. The billionaires increased from 43 to 53, with nine of them increasing their wealth by one billion or more in the last 12 months.

The luxury goods’ market is still very thriving. For example, the sales of expensive cars, watches and champagne rose sharply in 2010. Building on the tremendous financial support packages which they got from the governments and the increased potential for acquisition of weak competitors in a crisis, the monopoly enterprises increase their profits with fast pace while at the same time numerous working households groan under the burden of the dosage of the loans.

They continue their various profit-making activities (games with shares, with rates, prices of real estate, etc.), which show that these activities are not a morbid outgrowth or excess of capitalism, but a component of the very existence and functioning of the capitalist market.

At the same time, the working masses across the globe are faced with a soaring rise of unemployment rates, price increases in staple foodstuffs and other essentials, with cuts in social services such as Education, Health, Welfare, with the loss of assets ( houses, etc.) because of debts to banks. Capitalism reveals its true face, not only in developing countries of the so-called “Third World”, but also in the imperialist centres.

Recent developments in all continents, the big, militant, popular demonstrations of toiling masses indicate the sharpness and the depth of the problems. In the US, 6.7 million jobs have been lost during the interval from the onset of the economic crisis in December 2007 until August 2009. The official unemployment rate (which of course hides those who have now lost all hope of finding a job) is currently 9.5% - 10.2 million Americans are now receiving unemployment benefits.

If we add to the official unemployment rate all those working part time jobs because they cannot find full time jobs and have now stopped looking for work, then 30 million Americans - 19% of the total workforce – are daily confronted with the spectre of unemployment.

Even the vast majority of those who work fail to maintain the previous standard of living due to reduction in wages or working hours. Thus, although the average hourly pay for 80% of the workforce appears to have increased by 2.5%, in reality the weekly average earnings have increased by only 0.7% (below the level of inflation), because employers have drastically reduced the total of weekly hours.

In Europe, the official unemployment rate has reached 9.3%, with unemployment having risen at 20.7% for young workers between the ages 15-24. The unemployment rates are much higher than those of a number of countries, including Spain, Greece (12%, with prognoses for 20% at the end of 2010), Portugal, etc. In England actually there are 2.5 million officially-registered unemployed, and 6.6 million part-time workers.

The number of hungry people worldwide increased to more than one billion in 2009, according to data from the UN (FAO), as more than 100 million additional people joined the ranks of the impoverished who cannot obtain the necessary means of maintenance from the beginning of the crisis and thereafter. Hunger is not limited to the countries of the “Third World”. More than 49 million people in the U.S. have no access to the necessary nutrition, and suffer from malnutrition. 17 million children in the U.S. - one in five - live in households unable to provide daily meals, while the number of children who sometimes were left with no food at all for one day or more jumped from 700,000 to 1.1 million within a year.

And, of course, widespread poverty and starvation are not due to lack of food on the planet, nor the excessive growth of world population, as the various spokespersons of imperialism try to convince us. These very cold facts show that the necessary resources and the expertise for increasing global food production by 50% by 2030 and 70% by 2050 exist, so that the needs of the population of the planet, which is expected to reach 9.1 billion in 40 years, can be covered.

The contradictions of the capitalist way of development, were manifested in all their sharpness at the time of the economic crisis, can only result in a sharpening of inter-imperialist antagonisms, as each bourgeoisie is trying to get out of the vice of the crisis and recover previous rates of profitability, not only at the expense of the workers whom they exploit, but also at the expense of their capitalist competitors.

Seepaul Narine elected President of IUF Caribbean Region Cde Seepaul Narine, General Secretary of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) has been elected President of the Caribbean Region of the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF) at the just concluded Regional Conference of the IUF held in Barbados on June 6-7, 2011.

Other Executives are: Secretary - Clifton Grant of Jamaica, Vice Presidents – Veronica Griffith of Barbados and Ronna Dene Burgess of Bermuda and Committee Members – Bert Patterson of Grenada and Cindy Blanchard of Antigua and Barbuda.

The six member committee headed by Cde Narine is tasked for the next five years with the responsibility to organize and coordinate activities including educational work which is set by the IUF among the membership of the IUF affiliated Unions.

The Caribbean affiliates are from Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago.

GAWU was represented by five (5) person delegation at Conference. The delegates which were led by Cde Narine and included Cdes Derek Thakur, Assistant

General Secretary; Gaietri Baron, Second Vice President; Satyawattie Kadaru, General Council Member; and Keith Crawford from Skeldon Estate.

Delegates reviewed the work of the regional committee since the last Conference in 2006. Over the last five (5) years the IUF supported educational work of affiliated unions in the Region and helped to build union capacity in areas as trade negotiations, Occupational Safety and Health and Gender Issues.

The IUF is an international Federation of Trade Unions representing workers employed in Agriculture and Plantations, the preparation and manufacturing of Food and Beverages, Hotels, Restaurant and Catering Services and all stages of Tobacco processing. Founded in 1920, IUF which is based in Geneva, Switzerland is composed of three hundred and thirty six (336) trade unions in one hundred and twenty (120) countries representing a combined membership of over twelve (12) million workers.

Similar Regional Organisations to the Caribbean Regional Organisation of the IUF exist in Africa, Asia/Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America.

The guiding principle of the IUF since its formation has been international labour solidarity.

Worker dies following explosion at Enmore Factory Sugar worker Jainarine Singh, who was severely injured on May 15, 2011 following an explosion of a highly-pressurised pipe of the Enmore factory, died on May 23, 2011. Singh’s accident occurred in the section of the Enmore factory which houses two newly-installed dryers, which are part of the components to enable the Packaging Plant to be functional.

The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), in a press statement on May 23, 2011 before the death of Jainarine Singh, who had suffered burns to his body and damage to his intestines, called on the Guyana Sugar Corporation (Guysuco) for an impartial enquiry into the accident. Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud, in a comment to the press, said: “I have asked them (Guysuco) to conduct an investigation, which they normally do, but we have also asked for an additional investigation, to see what went wrong”. The additional investigation to which the minister reffered will be conducted jointly by Guysuco and GAWU. This investigation, Persaud stressed, will include independent officials as well, so that the organizaCOMBAT: May/June, 2011

tions involved will not be accused of trying to “cover up anything”.

A Commission of Inquiry was appointed on June 14, 2011 with the following members : Dales Beresford – Chairman, Seepaul Narine and Mohamed Ahamad representing GAWU, and Sharma Dwarka and Deodat James Sukhu representing Guysuco. The Commission has commenced work, and is in the process of finalising the Report.

Guysuco on May 09, 2011, commissioned the US$12.5M (G$2.5B) Packaging Plant at Enmore Estate, which is to transform raw sugar production at approximately 40,000 tonnes per year to value-added sugar. Guysuco announced that the price of the packaged value added sugar would be 35 to 40 per cent higher than the price the Corporation is receiving for its raw sugar. Guysuco has been producing annually about 8,000 tonnes of value-added sugar at Blairmont Estate. There is a high demand for this brand of sugar locally and in the overseas markets in the Caribbean and North America.

GAWU at 7th International Forum

The President of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), Cde Komal Chand and the President of the Federation Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG), Cde Carvil Duncan participated in the 7th International Forum on Economic Globalisation and Trade Unions held in Beijing on April 27 and 28, 2011.

The Forum which started in 2004 was organized by the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU). Its aim is to promote mutual understanding and cooperation between the world’s trade unions in the context of economic globalization.

This year, the Forum attracted an attendance of 209 trade union leaders from 146 trade union organizations in 89 countries from Asia, Africa, Latin, America and Europe. The ACFTU’s delegation to the Forum totalled more than 100 Chinese trade union representatives. Discussions of the Forum took place under the themes: “transforming economic growth patterns and workers’ capacity building” and “decent work and social security”.

The Forum was addressed by, among others, China’s Vice Premier Li Keqiang,

the General Secretary of the World Federation of Trade Unions, Cde George Marviokos and an Executive Director of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

There was uanimous agreement at the Forum’s discussions that the global financial crisis was far from over noting the sluggish global economic recovery in a few countries, the slowdown in economic growth, high unemployment and widening economic inequalities.

The Forum set guidelines on the following headings: 1. Promoting transformation of the economic development pattern and enhancing workers’ capacities 2. Promoting a job-rich recovery and sustainable development.

3. Improving social security systems and ensuring workers’ share in the fruits of the economic and social development.

4. Promoting social dialogue for a harmonious labour relation.

5. Advancing social management and improving global economic governance.

6. Strengthening exchange and cooperation for win-win outcomes

Dead Man is Alive Since his 60th birthday in April, 2010 he has been seeking to uplift his monthly old age pension from the Scheme. The Fort Wellington Office of the NIS in May last year told him that he is dead according to the NIS records and someone has been receiving Survivors Benefits as a result of his death.

It was miraculous news to Collins that he was told that he was not entitled to his NIS Pension because he is dead. He followed up the matter, in vain, at the NIS office in Georgetown for about four (4) months until he went abroad last December.

On his return to Guyana in June, 2011 he contacted again the NIS to learn that he was still treated as dead. With the assisCde Ronald Collins who was born on tance of GAWU he met with two (2) April 18, 1950 and worked for forty (40) years at Blairmont Estate ap- Senior Managers of the Scheme at plied for his Old Age Pension from the Head Office of the NIS on July 19, the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) 2011. He was assured that within two one month before he attained aged (2) weeks his Old Age Pension claim sixty (60), that is in March last year. would be resolved.

Page Five

INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL

Ask the right questions before privatizing

By Donald Cohen Elected officials need to do a better job of asking the right questions before they make a decision that we’ll live with for decades.

Too often, a mayor, governor, or other public official proposes to sell off a public facility, privatize a public good, or contract out a vital service, but fails to answer basic questions that decisionmakers and voters need to ask before deciding whether it’s a good idea.

For example, former Chicago Mayor Richard Daley rushed the proposal to lease the city’s parking meters for 75 years through the city council in just a few days after they (and the public) were given the details of the deal. Daley made the hard sell promising a buyer with $1.15 billion to fill Chicago’s budget hole if they acted quickly. Only after the deal was done and the dust settled did they learn that they sold nearly $1 billion too cheaply and that they had given away their rights for 75 years to manage the city’s traffic and land use to investment giants Morgan Stanley, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Allianz Capital Partners. [Note: Daley just joined Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, the law firm that negotiated the deal to privatize Chicago’s parking meters.]

There’s an easy solution. Public officials, advocates and the media should ask these ten simple questions - and get the answers - before any final privatization decision. It’s a test to see if these deals will help, or hurt, the public interest.

Does the contract limit our democratic rights?

Buried deep in the contracts and longterm private highway or parking lot leases are so-called “non-compete” clauses and “compensation clauses” that limit or eliminate our ability -- for decades to make public decisions to improve our cities, our transportation systems, and many other public services. Sell off the highway and the contract will prevent you from building mass transit that could compete with the private road operator for decades.

Will we still have the “Right To Know”?

The public often loses the right to know important details about public services when private contractors take over. Conservatives across the nation are publishing lists of “high paid” government workers as another tactic to turn voters COMBAT: May/June, 2011

against government. It’s public information, and the public does have the right to know. Privatize the health department, the library or the prison, and the CEO’s salary - and lots more - becomes private and confidential.

Are there perverse incentives that could work against our public policy goals?

Private companies are focused on growing revenue, increasing market share, and healthy “Return on Investment” for owners or shareholders. That’s fine for the company that makes your breakfast cereal, but privatization means that the goals of private interests may take precedence over the public good. For example, prison contracts are based on the number of full prison beds. So more people in prison is good for business - but may not be good for society.

How will we hold the contractors accountable to the public?

When public agencies don’t have enough staff to regularly monitor the contracts, the public loses. Anyone who contracts for services - whether Boeing subcontracting the manufacture of jet components, a city contracting for tree trimming in public parks, or a family hiring a contractor to expand the size of their kitchen - knows that if you don’t watch the contractor closely, you get cost overruns, missed deadlines and mistakes.

Do we have a Plan B? Contractors that fail to deliver cost taxpayers millions when contracts have to be cancelled. Legal fees and overtime for public workers or back-up contractors to fix problems add up. And, once a public agency downsizes the front line workers that know how to do the work, it takes time to re-create an in-house team with experience and expertise.

Will all the outsourced jobs have health care benefits?

Privatization proponents frequently promise cost savings that come from turning jobs with health benefits into ones that don’t have health care. That’s irresponsible, and simply shifts costs to someone else - usually the taxpayers or local hospital emergency rooms.

If a private company thinks they can make money owning our parking lots, why can’t we?

Desperate for cash, cities and states are selling off assets and programs that are

actually money makers. Former California Governor Schwarzenegger proposed selling and leasing back state buildings that were free of debt, and local governments are selling landfills and privatizing recycling programs that generate revenue for cash strapped cities and counties.

What are the limits on the private contractor’s ability to raise fees, tolls or rates?

Public officials think that they don’t get blamed when the private contractor raises rates. They’re wrong. Private companies take over and raise rates to meet their financial projections. The result is that we pay higher fees, and the private company gets the money. If we have to raise rates, local governments should keep the money and fund libraries, parks or other public services.

50 years? 75 years? You’re kidding?

Indiana received $3.8 billion from a consortium made up of the Spanish construction firm Cintra and the Macquarie Atlas Roads (MQA) of Australia in exchange for the right to maintain, operate and collect tolls for the following 75 years. That’s a long time, and a lot could

change - from where we live and work, to how much we drive and much more - all of which could significantly impact revenues and profits. Is this the next generation’s bubble and bailout? Beware of financial projections that predict an unknowable future.

Have you read the contract? (the devil is always in the details) Contracts often have provisions that impact things we all care about - from environmental protection to neighbourhood services, and everything in-between.

Take the time and read the contract, because once it’s signed, it’s too late to change. Ask Chicago.

Local and state governments are scrambling to fill gaping budget holes. Multinational corporations offering cash, and conservative politicians using the crisis as opportunity to downsize government, are pushing hard and moving fast. The promise of privatization is always oversold - cost overruns instead of cost savings, information no longer available to the public, and corners cut that impact services. Asking the right questions is the first step to putting the public interest first and avoiding decisions that we’ll regret - for seventy-five years.

List of countries the USA has bombed since the end of World War II China 1945-46 Korea 1950-53 China 1950-53 Guatemala 1954 Indonesia 1958 Cuba 1959-60 Guatemala 1960 Belgian Congo 1964 Guatemala 1964 Dominican Republic 1965-66 Peru 1965 Laos 1964-73 Vietnam 1961-73 Cambodia 1969-70 Guatemala 1967-69 Lebanon 1982-84 Grenada 1983-84

Libya 1986 El Salvador 1981-92 Nicaragua 1981-90 Iran 1987-88 Libya 1989 Panama 1989-90 Iraq 1991 Kuwait 1991 Somalia 1992-94 Bosnia 1995 Iran 1998 Sudan 1998 Afghanistan 1998 Yugoslavia/Serbia 1999 Afghanistan 2001 Libya 2011 Page Six

INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL

My reaction to Osama bin Laden’s death

By Noam Chomsky It’s increasingly clear that the operation was a planned assassination, multiply violating elementary norms of international law. There appears to have been no attempt to apprehend the unarmed victim, as presumably could have been done by 80 commandos facing virtually no opposition—except, they claim, from his wife, who lunged towards them. In societies that profess some respect for law, suspects are apprehended and brought to fair trial. I stress “suspects.” In April 2002, the head of the FBI, Robert Mueller, informed the press that, after the most intensive investigation in history, the FBI could say no more than that it “believed” that the plot was hatched in Afghanistan, though implemented in the UAE and Germany. What they only believed in April 2002 they obviously didn’t know eight months earlier, when Washington dismissed tentative offers by the Taliban (how serious we do not know, because they were instantly dismissed) to extradite bin Laden if they were presented with evidence—which, as we soon learned, Washington didn’t have. Thus Obama was simply lying when he said in his White House statement that “we quickly learned that the 9/11 attacks were carried out by al Qaeda.”

Nothing serious has been provided since. There is much talk of bin Laden’s “confession,” but that is rather like my confession that I won the Boston Marathon. He boasted of what he regarded as a great achievement.

There is also much media discussion of Washington’s anger that Pakistan didn’t turn over bin Laden, though,

surely, elements of the military and security forces were aware of his presence in Abbottabad. Less is said about Pakistani anger that the U.S. invaded their territory to carry out a political assassination. Anti-American fervor is already very high in Pakistan, and these events are likely to exacerbate it. The decision to dump the body at sea is already, predictably, provoking both anger and skepticism in much of the Muslim world.

We might ask ourselves how we would be reacting if Iraqi commandos landed at George W. Bush’s compound, assassinated him, and dumped his body in the Atlantic. Uncontroversially, his crimes vastly exceed bin Laden’s, and he is not a “suspect” but uncontroversially the “decider” who gave the orders to commit the “supreme international crime, differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole” (quoting the Nuremberg Tribunal for which Nazi criminals were hanged), the hundreds of thousands of deaths, millions of refugees, destruction of much of the country, the bitter sectarian conflict that has now spread to the rest of the region.

There’s more to say about [Cuban airline bomber Orlando] Bosch, who just died peacefully in Florida, including reference to the “Bush doctrine” that societies that harbour terrorists are as guilty as the terrorists themselves and should be treated accordingly. No one seemed to notice that Bush was calling for invasion and destruction of the U.S. and murder of its criminal president.

Same with the name Operation Geronimo. The impe-

rial mentality is so profound throughout Western society that no one can perceive that they are glorifying bin Laden by identifying him with courageous resistance against genocidal invaders. It’s like naming our murder weapons after victims of our crimes: Apache, Tomahawk… It’s as if the Luftwaffe were to call its fighter planes “Jew” and “Gypsy.”

There is much more to say, but even the most obvious and elementary facts should provide us with a good deal to think about.

GAWU attends 3rd UIS Conference The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) was represented by General Council Member Cde Aslim Singh at the Third Conference of the Trade Unions International of Agriculture, Food, Commerce, Textiles and Allied Industries (UIS) from June 22 to 24, 2011 in Paris, France. The Conference attracted approximately one hundred and forty (140) delegates and observers from eighty-eight (88) countries, who embraced the Conference’s central slogan: “Democracy, Social Progress, Struggles, Peace, Solidarity”.

Cde Aslim, in his address to the Conference, spoke to the effects of the current Global Economic Crisis on the working-class through rising unemployment, cuts in their salaries and pensions, abolition of their rights, and an increase in poverty; while capitalists see their profits grow, thanks to massive State intervention. He noted that programmes of social cutbacks, from all indications, will remain the order of the day for years to come, and such cuts have already shown their tragic consequences for the working class and the poor. He pointed to the new and encouraging signs of workers’ fight-back, where the working class is responding to programmes of social cutbacks with justifiable anger and resistance.

In the address, he also related that it is the discredited capitalist system which is at the root of the current food crisis. He pointed out that global food prices COMBAT: May/June, 2011

are at the highest level since the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) started monitoring them in 1990, and the World Bank estimates that recent food-price increases have driven an additional 44 million people in developing countries into poverty.

He noted that the rise and expansion of transnational agribusinesses have seen their own economic interests being placed above the good of the public and the community; and today, the food production system is increasingly devoted to the maximization of profits and exploitation of labour, with less attention being given to the environment and small-and-medium-scale farmers.

In conclusion, he called on delegates and observers to work towards fostering workers’ unity and united action in confronting the harsh and inhuman conditionalities engendered by the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, other financial institutions and the World Trade Organization. He stated that the neo-liberal policies represented and touted by these organizations continue to force the working people in the world to greater dispossession and poverty. He said that the rising protests and struggles must lead to finding alternatives, and to this end, called on those present to contribute to the alternatives.

The Conference unanimously elected Julien Huck as its General Secretary, as well as a 24-member Executive Committee and a 3-member Finance Committee. The

UIS was established in 1997 and comprises more than 130 affiliates in 70 countries, representing around 20 million members.

At the conclusion of the Conference, delegates unanimously adopted the Call of Paris, which calls for the following:-

1. Unify workers, natives, farmers, young women, students to fight against neo-liberal policies 2. Each country must have the right to protect its agriculture and food through economic and social support, by rejecting privatization and nationalizing strategic sectors 3. That the production of biofuels poses a threat to humanity by diverting agricultural resources from feeding the world’s population 4. For workers to fight for a world of peace, mutual respect, solidarity, brotherhood and equality.

5. Condemns attacks by employers, governments, against union rights and freedoms, and the persecution and killing of trade unionists.

6. To build class trade unionism and to develop a trade union movement that is ever more unified, militant, and opposed to all forms of hegemony The new Executive Committee is now charged with raising awareness of the Call of Paris and implementing the Call.

Page Seven

Better workers’ welfare for Guyana’s development

Exerpt from President Komal Chand’s May Day Address 2011

“Celebrating May Day has become a tradition for us.

It is now part of Guyana’s working class proud history, and a fixture of our present solidarity. Our march and assembly holds great significance to us. Through our May Day activities, we pay homage to our past heroes and heroines and reflect on the struggles and sacrifices they made in bettering the causes of the working class. May Day helps to remind us that, in as much as we have problems specific to our circumstances and national conditions, at the same time, we are a contingent of the working class of the world who are engaged in fierce struggles for betterment, social justice, and a world free from exploitation of man by man; a world where peace prevails, a world where plunder and coveting other peoples’ wealth are no longer tolerated, a world where the dignity of man is universally respected.

International Situation After a long period of relative dormancy, we are not surprised to observe today a renewed outburst of militancy by workers of the world, especially in Europe and the USA. These struggles, wherever they take place, are a dramatic reminder that class struggles have not become extinguished or extinct, as the bourgeoisie and their apologists would want us to believe. Indeed, it is a fortifying reminder that struggles cannot be delinked from the lives of workers in societies where a handful seeks to live parasitically off the wealth produced by the masses of wage-earners.

The second decade of our 21st century has dawned with mighty challenges by the workers of the world to the predominant capitalist system. The capitalist system is failing utterly, and is yet to extricate itself from the crises it has brought unto itself since September, 2008.

The hundreds of billions of dollars ploughed in by the primarily developed states to save the system has only resulted in the rich getting richer while the poor and the workers face increasing suffering, austerity measures, cuts in education and other social expenditures, and so on.

The neo-liberal model based on outright privatization, deregulation, division of the working class, among other features, lies in tatters. It is discredited and bankrupt.

Those myopic politicians who were lured or pressured into buying into this model, and who sold it by various pretexts, today are seeing the results of growing poverty, unemployment, rising prices, and food insecurity; and various conflicts are being, more and more, isolated by their working peoples.”

“National and Regional Elections For us Guyanese, 2011 will be another significant year. This year, national and regional elections are constitutionally due. In a matter of months, they will, expectedly, be held. The working people and their eligible families, along with pensioners, most certainly will comprise over eighty (80) per cent of the voting population, making it, as a bloc, the largest. The upcoming elections, therefore, presents an opportunity not only for workers to vote for the party of their choice, but

for the working people to call on the contesting parties to outline and articulate positions and policies that address their general interests and concerns. Such expectations should be based not simply on their voting numbers, important as that is, but more so on the knowledge that the working people constitute the power that drives the engine of growth that turns plans, small and grand, into realities.

The GAWU takes the view, too, that the Guyanese working people should also play a vigorous role in ensuring that our elections are free and fair, that the democracy which was returned in 1992 is not undermined, and that the elections’ campaigns and the elections are conducted in a conflict-free atmosphere and issues are discussed in a democratic way, even if spiritedly.

Comrades, beginning in 1993, we undertook in Guyana the task to rebuild, to lift our country from the pits of stagnation and place it on a path of steady progress.

The indicators of the achievements made are visible to all of us. Health, education, pensions, the physical infrastructure, housing construction, the reach of water and electricity services, good and inclusive governance, reduction of our national debt are some of the sectors of

our society where notable improvements can be seen.

These improvements came about not without strains and stresses. And in spite of the many challenges in the past seventeen (17) years, a foundation has been set on which we could continue to build a new prosperous Guyana.

While the strides made have raised to a higher level the working people’s quality of life, we cannot ignore those ugly features of our society, which would not go away despite strenuous efforts. Here, we must draw attention to the troubling issue of crime; violence against women; prevalence of illicit drugs, and its use and the gun violence it breeds; the perception of widespread corruption, among others. These negative features tend to overshadow the country’s gains, and, at the same time, act as restraints to further economic growth.

Comrades, over the past year, all did not go well with respect to labour and trade unionism. Two of our productive industries have had to contend with measures which could be deemed anti-labour and against estab-

lished trade union practices. Strangely, these measures were taken at the recently re-privatized and foreignowned bauxite and at the state-owned sugar industries but are certainly not limited to them.

The GAWU is concerned over this development since it is possible that new assaults on trade unionism can well be in the making.

In recent times, several contentious issues have arisen in the sugar industry. These occurrences have badly muddied the industrial relations’ atmosphere within the industry. There is a level of discontent among the workforce. Given the plans and the juncture the industry is at, one wonders what lies behind such measures, and what agenda is really being served. The GAWU recalls at this time, for instance, the provocative threat just months ago to derecognize the Union, needless of the fact, that recognition was won over 35 years ago in arduous struggle spanning three-decades. That threat was not pursued, thanks to the intervention of President Jagdeo. The Union is puzzled after that an attempt to what in effect would have amounted to sabotage of the industry, nothing is being done to expose and strongly discipline the culprit or culprits who may be guilty. This we find to be very interesting and inaction may tell its own tale.

The GAWU wants to believe that the present administration will not condone that threat.

Thus, in a situation of inaction by Guysuco, the GAWU is suggesting that the President considers intervening in this matter.

Trade Union Unity GAWU reaffirms publicly its commitment to Trade Union Unity based on democratic practices. We are despondent that yet another year has gone by and Trade Union Unity has not been achieved. By our division we are only hurting ourselves. Division means weakness, and weakness simply makes our struggles to defend workers’ gains, interests and rights less effective.

It is time that the genuine leaders of the workers work together to defend the gains of our workers, and strive to improve the welfare of all workers to secure a better Guyana, in keeping with the theme of FITUG’s May Day celebration: “Better Workers’ Welfare – For Guyana’s Development”. The workers must demand of their leaders to work towards strengthening unity and trade unionism in Guyana. After all, there will be others who have a stake in perpetuation of our division.

In this regard, let us be reminded that GAWU and FITUG were among the first to protest RUSAL’s move to derecognize the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union (GB&GWU). Let no one argue that the Union was not derecognized. Let’s not deal with semantics, and let’s be realistic. We take the opportunity, at this forum, to call on the relevant parties to ensure that the status of the Union is reinstated, and thereafter deal with the perceived breaches through the adherence of the relevant procedure.”

To be continued

COMBAT is a publication of the Guyana Agricultural & General Workers Union (GAWU) 59 High Street & Wights Lane, Kingston, Georgetown, Guyana, S.A. Tel: 592-227-2091/2; 225-5321 , 223-6523 Fax: 592-227-2093 Email: gawu@bbgy.com Website: www.gawu.net