Combat - July/August, 2011 edition

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Issue#: 4 Volume#: 32

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

July/August, 2011

Wages agreement inked

Sugar workers receive 5% increase for 2011, Second Crop underway

The Guyana Sugar Corporation (Guysuco) commenced its second crop (2011) in mid-July, targeting to produce a revised year’s production of 282,712 tonnes sugar. If attained, it would be the industry’s highest production since 2005. The first crop target of 138,791 tonnes fell short by 31,920 tonnes to 106,871. Inclement weather and the continued poor performance by the Skeldon sugar factory were pivotal to the industry’s lacklustre performance, although the crop’s production was the highest first crop production in the last six (6) years. The industry has targeted itself to produced 175,841 tonnes during the current second crop as follows:Estate

INSIDE THIS EDITION

Skeldon Albion Rose Hall Blairmont Enmore/LBI Wales Uitvlugt Total

Target 38,866 36,376 23,705 24,473 23,999 15,813 12,609 175,841

Will Guysuco attain such level of production? Is the requisite quantity of cane available for harvest? The weather prognosis assures that there will be favourable weather to the industry until late November, when all the estates except Enmore are expected to complete their harvests. The Corporation informed the Union at a meeting held on July 22, 2011 that 2,044,880 tonnes of cane are available to be reaped across the seven grinding estates. Such quantity of cane calculated at the industry’s budgeted tonnes-canes-per-tonne sugar ratio of 11.63 would indeed enable the industry to attain its crop target of 175,841 tonnes sugar and its year’s tar- Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud with President of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), Komal Chand and CEO of Guyget of 282,712 tonnes overall. suco Paul Bhim, Chief Labour Officer, Yoganand Persaud and other Union As the Corporation pursues its target, and Guysuco officals at signing of agreement the remaining period of the year would of pay should have taken place since January 01, see a more responsive workforce than last year 2011; that is, following the receipt of five (5) per and earlier this year, noting that on July 03, 2011, cent additional payment on workers’ aggregate the Corporation implemented a five (5) per cent earnings for the year in December, 2010. increase in the rate of pay of all workers retroactive to January 01, 2011. Such increase in the rate Continued on page eight

GAWU & Noble House GAWU ready to sit on Meet Jankie Persaud A.A. Seafoods conclude Guysuco Board “...the Union will not countenance Agreement for 2011 anyone selecting its nominee...”

GAWU’s Honorary President, and over 60 years in sugar

Workers to benefit from 6% acrossthe-board increase

...see story on page two

...see story on page six

Commission finds FITUG/GAWU protests imperialist intervention evidence to support Guysuco and SECL Ronald Collins finally in Libya ...see story on page six

receives pension

COMBAT: July/August, 2011

...see story on page two

America’s need for puppets - not partners

...see story on page seven

negligent in Jainarine Singh Death

...see story on page three Page One


GAWU ready to sit on Guysuco Board The Guyana Times, in its editorial of August 19, 2011 titled “Sugar wage Compromise” stated, among other things, that the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) is refusing the opportunity to sit on the Board of Directors of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (Guysuco). Similar statements have also been levelled against the Union by some media houses and letter writers. GAWU wishes to advise that such contention is a downright fabrication. If ever the authority approved the Union to be accorded a representative on the Board, the Union would certainly participate to represent the genuine in-

terests of sugar workers and the country. However, it must be made pellucid that the Union will not countenance anyone selecting its nominee, whose selection must solely reside with the Union. Needless to say that GAWU, as a responsible and committed stakeholder in the future of the industry, will lend its expertise and commitment to worker satisfaction in the deliberation of the Board of Directors. GAWU is also cognizant of the fact that there are myriad challenges which are not of the Union’s making, but will nevertheless be a team player on the Board, advising on the wisdom of policies, programmes and management.

GAWU holds new round of one-week Training Courses

GAWU’s Emancipation Day Message The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) joins with Afro-Guyanese and the rest of Guyana in commemorating the full Emancipation of Africans from plantation slavery. Rather than dwell on the now wellused theme of “there would have hardly been arrival of Indentured Indians had there been no emancipation”, GAWU would instead direct African-Guyanese to use this weekend to give full practical meaning to the United Nations–designated Year of People of African Descent. Besides reflecting on what one hundred and seventy-three (173) years of full freedom have brought upon generations of Afro-Guyanese, including an objective enumeration of the challenges which prevented a better life, GAWU respectfully suggests that Afro-Guyanese use the principles and initiatives their foreparents displayed to improve their own circumstances.

ty about agriculture and land? Are there similar situations facing AfroGuyanese today which do not confront other sections of contemporary Guyanese society? Amidst the dramatic entertainment of soirees and taking into account the choices available at election time, GAWU recommends that Afro-Guyanese and the rest of Guyana mediate upon the foregoing questions. For besides cerebral debates, those considerations could also result in practical ideas for collective improvement. GAWU declares that when the African-descended segment of the society is satisfied with officialdom’s fair play; when Afro-Guyanese experience genuine inclusion, and when African-Guyanese know social justice and economic progress, all of will be the beneficiaries of the common good.

May today’s descendants of our original sugar workers, our earliest How did the post-1838 Africans nurses, policemen, lawyers and articonfront and overcome the hostile sans be inspired to hold their heads saboteurs of their independence? high and strive in dignity and with inHow did they persevere and some- tegrity to claim the opportunities and times prevail against the combined national resources which are there to assaults of the plantocracy, the local be shared. merchants and governments, as well as the actions of the British GovernA happy and reflective Emancipament? Did recourse into the profes- tion Anniversary to all. sions and trades balance uncertainPartcipants attending the second course which commenced on August 29, 2011

Twenty-five (25) workers drawn from the various sugar estates commenced a one-week Trade Union Education Course at the GAWU Labour College on August 29, 2011. The course which will conclude on September 02, 2011 aims to develop workers skills and capabilities and will touch on topics covering areas such as Labour legislation and Agreements in Guyana, the operations of Guysuco, NIS and the Ministry of Labour, History, political structure and economic structure of Guyana, Class division of Society, Capitalism and the Current Global crisis, Globalization and the need for a New Global Human Order, The Labour movement in Guyana and the Caribbean and Understanding the operation of Companies, Communications and other skills needed to represent workers This is the second such course organCOMBAT: July/August, 2011

ized by the College since the conclusion of the GAWU/NAACIE/GMB Educational Project in April, 2011. The first course in this new round was held from August 15 to 19, 2011 had an attendance of twenty-six (26) participants. The College will soon develop an Advanced Course which would allow participants to return to receive further and more in depth training. The thrust of our educational work is to provide the essential tools and knowledge to our members to be more and more effective in their Trade Union work. But it is not limited to those objectives. We seek also to lift our members overall consciousness. Working class unity, indeed national unity and solidarity are values dear to us and these values are heavily promoted in our educational programmes.

Ronald Collins finally receives Pension Cde Ronald Collins, former employee of Blairmont Estate, whose story was featured in the June/July, 2011 edition of Combat, was finally awarded his Old Age Pension on (Friday) August 19, 2011 by the National Insurance Scheme (NIS). He received his outstanding pension payments from 18th April, 2010, when he attained aged sixty (60). It is recalled that Collins was told by the NIS’s Fort Wellington Office that he was dead, according to the NIS records, and someone had been receiving Survivors Benefits as

a result of his death. He further represented his matter, in vain, at the NIS’s Head Office in Georgetown for about four (4) months, until he went abroad last December. On his return to Guyana in June, 2011, he again contacted the NIS to learn that he was still deemed dead. He solicited the assistance of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) and, undoubtedly, the Union’s representation to the NIS assisted him to obtain his pension. Page Two


Job evaluation recommences

Commission finds evidence to support Guysuco and SECL neglient in Jainarine Singh death

“Team to complete the exercise within the shortest possible timeframe” A job evaluation exercise with respect to approximately 5,500 timerated factory and field workers and the foremen/forewomen who are members of two bargaining units of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) recommenced on August 23, 2011. The exercise started in August, 2009. After the conclusion of one aspect of the exercise, GAWU’s evaluators were not required to complete the exercise. The head evaluator of the Guyana Sugar Corporation Inc (Guysuco) was to require them subsequently to complete the exercise. In the meantime, the exercise with respect to NAACIE’s bargaining unit of approximately 1,000 workers was completed in January, 2010, and they are enjoying higher rates of pay with effect from January 01, 2011.

six and five per cent respectively for workers belonging to the bargaining units of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) and the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE) in the sugar industry.

The Corporation seemed reluctant to proceed with the job evaluation of the GAWU’s time-rated members. The Union, on July 14, 2011, charged that the Corporation was acting improperly to have a job evaluation exercise concluded only for a minority of its time-rated workforce, and demanded that the Corporation honour its decision to conduct the exercise for all its time-rated employees. The Corporation, in response to the Union’s letter on the subject, assured the Union that it would recommence The job evaluation exercise com- the exercise and whatever new rates prises three dimensions: Firstly, job are approved, they would be impledescriptions are done, in which titles mented retroactively to January 01, and respective duties are identified 2011. for designated jobs. Secondly, the respective jobs are awarded points The team of the Union’s evaluators based on different criteria, such as are Cdes Seepaul Narine, General qualification, experience, responsi- Secretary; Aslim Singh, Research Ofbility, etc. Finally, the jobs are priced, ficer; Harvey Tambron, Supervisor – and rates of pay are approved for the New Amsterdam Office; Mohamed respective jobs. Ahamad, Representative – Rose Hall Estate; and Abraham Nagamootoo, The job evaluation exercise has its GAWU Executive Member. Those of genesis in the Prem Persaud Tribunal, the Corporation are Cdes Rudy Amerwhich was a three-person Arbitration ally, Human Resources – Head Office; Tribunal that determined wage/sal- Dwarka Sharma, Factory Operations ary increase for the years 2002 and Manager; Wayde Collins, Workshop 2003. It was headed by former Chief Manager – Albion; Jainarine SookJustice Prem Persaud and included paul, Senior Instructor - Guysuco former Major General of the Guyana Training School; and Raymond HanDefence Force, Norman McLean, and iff, Human Resources Manager (ag.) – former Executive Director of the Con- Rose Hall Estate. The evaluators have sultative Association of Guyanese decided to work consistently to comIndustries, David Yankana. For years plete the exercise within the shortest 2002 and 2003, the Tribunal awarded possible timeframe. COMBAT: July/August, 2011

President Bharrat Jagdeo and Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud unveil the plaque of the new packaging plant at Enmore. Applauding are Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh and Culture Minister Dr Frank Anthony. A Commission of Enquiry into the death of sugar worker Jainarine Singh on May 23, 2011 who died from an accident at Enmore Factory on May 15, 2011 revealed that there was adequate evidence to support that the Guyana Sugar Corporation Inc (Guysuco) and Surrendra Engineering Corporation Limited (SECL), contractor of the US$12.5M Enmore Sugar Packaging Plant which is attached to the Enmore factory were negligent and contributed to Singh’s demise. The Commission which was appointed by Guysuco on June 14, 2011 comprised of Dale Beresford as Chairman, Seepaul Narine and Mohammed Ahmad from the Guyana Agricultural an General Workers Union (GAWU) along with Sharma Dwarka and Deodat James Sukhu from Guysuco. Singh was attending to the sugar drying air steam heater, which was designed to operate with steam pressure of not more than 22 pounds per square inch (psi) but steam as much as 250 psi was released to the resulting in the explosion that caused Singh’s death. Singh suffered severe injuries and third-degree burns and died after one-week of hospitalization. A valve which allows maximally a flow of 80 psi steam pressure, from the steam pressure line to the line connected to the drying air pressure steam heater was defective. It was known to the Management of the Estate yet it was not repaired or replaced. SECL was sourcing steam pressure for the steam heater from the high pressure steam supply pipe without the permission of the Estate’s Management, according to the findings of the Enquiry. Evidence given by Guysuco’s Health and Safety Officer revealed, that SECL had to be cited on several occasions for violation of the Corporation’s Safety policy. The Commission opined that the Corporation allowed the scene of the accident to be compromised by allowing unauthorized persons to enter the area of the accident and removing components critical to the

investigation. For example, the condensate drain valve which broke off from the steam pressure pipe and struck Jainarine Singh was retrieved at the time of the Enquiry from a Store Room controlled by SECL. The sugar drying section which extracts the sugar moisture prior to the stage of the sugar packaging, along with the factory upgrade was not taken over by Guysuco at the time of the accident due to a number of defects Some of the recommendations of the Commission are:1. The entire packaging plant and modernization project should be assessed for its compliance with national and international safety and health regulations and laws. 2. There should be greater emphasis on compliance with the contract specifications as specified in the contract. 3. Need for immediate improvement of Guysuco’s quality control system integrated into this project, and future projects to monitor installation, verification of design specification and verification of operating conditions for equipment based on design details 4. All safety valves/gauges should be replaced with new standardised valves/ gauges in keeping with international standards. 5. SECL should be made to comply with Guysuco Occupational Safety and Health policy on Personal Protective Equipment as required by law (Occupational Safety and Health Act Number 32 of 1997, Laws of Guyana) The Enmore Packaging Plant which was funded by the European Union (EU) is part of the Guysuco Modernisation Programme, and was constructed by Surendra Engineering Corporation Limited (SECL) of India, who were contracted to supply, install and commission the packaging plant. The plant was commissioned on May 09, 2011 by His Excellency President Bharrat Jagdeo. Page Three


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The truth about the situation in Libya

By Brian Becker Libya is a small country of just over 6 million people, but it possesses the largest oil reserves in all of Africa. The oil produced there is especially coveted because of its particularly high quality. The Air Forces of the United States, Britain, and France carried out 7,459 bombing attacks since March 19. Britain, France and the United States sent special operations ground forces and commando units to direct the military operations of the so-called rebel fighters – it was a NATO-led army in the field. The troops may be disaffected Libyans, but the operation is under the control and direction of NATO commanders and Western commando units who serve as “advisors.” Their new weapons and billions in funds come from the U.S. and other NATO powers that froze and seized Libya’s assets in Western banks. Their only military successes outside of Benghazi, in the far east of the country, have been exclusively based on the coordinated air and ground operations of the imperialist NATO military forces. In military terms, Libya’s resistance to NATO is of David and Goliath proportions. U.S. military spending alone is more than ten times greater than Libya’s entire annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which was $74.2 billion in 2010, according to the CIA’s World Fact Book. In recent weeks, the NATO military operations used surveillance-collecting drones, satellites, mounted aerial attacks and covert commando units to decapitate Libya’s military and political leadership and its command and control capabilities. Global economic sanctions meant that the country was suddenly deprived of income and secure access to goods and services needed to sustain a civilian economy over a long period. “The cumulative effect [of NATO’s coordinated air and ground operation] not only destroyed Libya’s military infrastructure, but also greatly diminished Colonel Gaddafi’s ability to control forces, leaving even committed fighting units unable to move, resupply, or coordinate operations,“ reports the New York Times in a celebratory article on August 22. A False Pretext The United States, United Kingdom, France and Italy targeted the Libyan government for overthrow or “regime change” not because these governments were worried about protecting civilians or to bring about a more democratic form of governance in Libya. If that were the real motivation of the NATO powers, they could start the bombing of Saudi Arabia right away. There are no elections in Saudi Arabia. The monarchy does not even allow women to drive cars. By law, women must be fully covered in public or they will go to prison. Protests are rare in Saudi Arabia because any dissent is met with imprisonment, torture COMBAT: July/August, 2011

a n d execution. The Saudi Monarchy is protected by U.S. imperialism b e cause it is p a r t of an undec l a re d b u t real U.S. sphere of influence, and it is the largest producer of oil in the world. The U.S. attitude toward the Saudi Monarchy was put succinctly by Ronald Reagan in 1981, when he said that the U.S. government “will not permit” revolution in Saudi Arabia such as the 1979 Iranian revolution that removed the U.S. client regime of the Shah. Reagan’s message was clear: the Pentagon and CIA’s military forces would be used decisively to destroy any democratic movement against the rule of the Saudi Royal Family. Reagan’s explicit statement in 1981 has in fact been the policy of every successive U.S. administration, including the current one. Libya and Imperialism Libya, unlike Saudi Arabia, did have a revolution against its monarchy. As a result of the 1969 revolution led by Muammar Gaddafi, Libya was no longer in the sphere of influence of any imperialist country. Libya had once been an impoverished colony of Italy living under the boot heel of the fascist Mussolini. After the Allied victory in World War II, control of the country was formally transferred to the United Nations, and Libya became independent in 1951 with authority vested in the monarch, King Idris. But in actuality, Libya was controlled by the United States and Britain until the 1969 revolution. One of the first acts of the 1969 revolution was to eliminate the vestiges of colonialism and foreign control. Not only were oil fields nationalised, but Gaddafi eliminated foreign military bases inside the country. In March of 1970, the Gaddafi government shut down two important British military bases in Tobruk and El Adem. He then became the Pentagon’s enemy when he evicted the U.S. Wheelus Air Force Base near Tripoli that had been operated by the United States since 1945. Before the British military took control in 1943, the facility was a base operated by the Italians under Mussolini. Wheelus had been an important Strategic Air Command (SAC) base during the Cold War, housing B-52 bombers and other front-line Pentagon aircraft that targeted the Soviet Union. Once under Libyan control, the Gaddafi government allowed Soviet military planes to access the airfield. In 1986, the Pentagon heavily bombed the base at the same time it bombed downtown Tripoli in an effort to assassinate Gaddafi. That effort failed, but his 2-year-old daughter died, along with scores of other civilians. The character of the Gaddafi Regime The political, social and class orientation of the Libyan regime has gone through several stages in the last four dec-

ades. The government and ruling establishment reflected contradictory class, social, religious and regional antagonisms. The fact that the leadership of the NATO-led National Transition Council is comprised of top officials of the Gaddafi government, who broke with the regime and allied themselves with NATO is emblematic of the decades-long instability within the Libyan establishment. These inherent contradictions were exacerbated by pressures applied to Libya from the outside. The U.S. imposed far-reaching economic sanctions on Libya in the 1980s. The largest Western corporations were barred from doing business with Libya, and the country was denied access to credit from Western banks. In its foreign policy, Libya gave significant financial and military support to national liberation struggles, including in Palestine, southern Africa, Ireland and elsewhere. Because of Libya’s economic policies, living standards for the population had jumped dramatically after 1969. Having a small population and substantial income from its oil production, augmented with the Gaddafi regime’s far-reaching policy of social benefits, created a huge advance in the social and economic status for the population. Libya was still a class society with rich and poor, and gaps between urban and rural living standards, but illiteracy was basically wiped out, while education and healthcare were free and extensively accessible. By 2010, the per capita income in Libya was near the highest in Africa at $14,000, and life expectancy rose to over 77 years, according to the CIA’s World Fact Book. Gaddafi’s political orientation explicitly rejected communism and capitalism. He created an ideology called the “Third International Theory,” which was an eclectic mix of Islamic, Arab nationalist and socialist ideas and programs. In 1977, Libya was renamed the Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. A great deal of industry, including oil, was nationalised, and the government provided an expansive social insurance program or what is called a welfare state policy akin to some features prevalent in the Soviet Union and some West European capitalist countries. But Libya was not a workers’ state or a “socialist government”, to use the popular if not scientific use of the term “socialist.” The revolution was not a workers and peasants rebellion against the capitalist class per se. Libya remained a class society although class differentiation may have been somewhat obscured beneath the existence of revolutionary committees and the radical, populist rhetoric that emanated from the regime. As in many developing, formerly colonized countries, state ownership of property was not “socialist” but rather a necessary fortification of an under-developed capitalist class. State property in Iraq, Libya and other such post-colonial regimes was designed to facilitate the social and economic growth of a new capitalist ruling class that was initially too weak, too deprived of capital, and too cut off from international credit to compete on its own terms with the dominant sectors of world monopoly capitalism. The nascent capitalist classes in such developing economies promoted state-owned property, under their control, in order to intersect with Western banks and transnational corporations and create more favourable terms for global trade and investment. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the “socialist bloc” governments of Central and Eastern Europe in 1989-91 deprived Libya of an economic and military counter-weight to the United States, and the Libyan government’s domestic economic and foreign policy shifted towards accommodation with the West. In the 1990s, some sectors of the Libyan economic establishment and the Gaddafi-led government favoured privatization, cutting back on social programs and subsidies, and integration into Western European markets. The earlier populism of the regime incrementally gave way to the adoption of neo-liberal policies. This was, however, a long process. Continued on page five Page Four


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Europe’s economic crisis spins out of control By Peter Schwarz The crisis of the world’s stock exchanges and financial markets is increasingly spiralling out of control. Governments are being driven by developments which they are unable to influence. On Tuesday, Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy, the leaders of the fourth- and sixth-largest economies in the world, met at an emergency summit with the aim of calming the markets. Two days later, the stock markets responded with the biggest fall in three years. The German DAX lost just under 6 per cent on Thursday, the French CAC 40 fell 5.5 per cent, Britain’s FTSE declined 4.5 per cent and the US Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 3.7 per cent. On Friday, the downward slide continued. Since the beginning of the month, the DAX has fallen by 20 per cent. Falls on this scale evoke memories of the Great Depression of the 1930s. The panic on the stock markets shows that traders are expecting a deep recession, already heralded by stagnating growth and rising unemployment rates. Corporations will respond with new waves of layoffs, governments with further budget cuts. The bitter experiences of the 1930s threaten to repeat themselves—not only economically, but also politically. The decline of the world economy is accompanied by growing national tensions, threatening the continued existence of the European Union, and increasingly brutal imperialist wars, as in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya. The current crisis is even more fundamental than eighty years ago. At that time, as Europe slid into fascism and war, the American bourgeoisie responded with a program of social reforms in the form of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal. The United States emerged from World War II as the dominant economic power. Today, the US is itself the focus of the crisis, and no country or alliance can assume its role as the anchor of the world capitalist economy. After the war, the reconstruction of capitalism in Western Europe was carried out with reference to the lessons drawn from the Great Depression—the need to temper the market economy with social policies. In 1991, when the Soviet Union

was dismantled at the hands of the Stalinist regime, the demise of the USSR was proclaimed as proof that socialism had failed and the unrestricted capitalist market had triumphed. The past three years had shattered these claims. The markets, and particularly the financial markets, have demonstrated their destructive power. Speculators are driving governments and dictating policies that plunge society into ruin and destroy the livelihoods of broad layers of the population. The public purse is being looted in order to save the banks and the assets of the wealthy; while education, health and old age care are being destroyed and the youth pushed onto the streets with no prospects. One austerity measure follows the next, aggravating the recession, which in turn rips new holes in the public sector, creating a vicious circle with no way out. Not a single bourgeois government or party can meet the insatiable demands of the financial markets. In order to bring the impending depression under control, it is necessary to launch a massive programme of public works running into billions of euros, and to tax speculative profits, high incomes and wealth accordingly, or confiscate them. But such measures are not even being discussed, let alone carried out. The power of the financial aristocracy is inviolable. All the official parties, whether “left” or right, lie prostrate before it. Nothing shows the class nature of society today more clearly than the contrast between the treatment of British youth arrested in the recent riots, who are being given draconian prison sentences for minor offences in summary proceedings, and that of the stock exchange gamblers and speculators who have driven entire national economies to the wall, without being in any way held accountable for their crimes. In Europe, governments and parties are arguing over whether the insatiable appetite of the financial markets can be satisfied by the creation of so-called euro bonds, or whether the union should be abandoned and the highly indebted countries left to their fate. The first option is supported by the governments of those countries experiencing debt repayment difficulties, as well as the German and French social democrats and Greens. They link the creation of euro bonds to demands for strict cost-saving measures, subjecting the budgetary policies of

individual states to the dictates of unelected EU bodies. The introduction of euro bonds would extend the brutal austerity measures, to which countries such as Greece, Ireland and Portugal have had to submit, throughout the rest of Europe. The second option is favoured by right-wing populists and sections of the bourgeois establishment, like Germany’s Free Democratic Party (FDP). They regard the national interest as paramount, are prepared to abandon the euro, break up the European Union and follow the path of national rivalries, conflicts and wars. An echo can be found among the middleclass ex-left, who advocate national or regional independence as an alternative to the EU. Workers must reject both these camps. The conflict in Europe does not run between nations, but between classes. Only the united struggle of all European workers can break the dominance of the financial aristocracy, which is defended both by the advocates of a strong EU and their more rabidly nationalist opponents. The prerequisite for the defence of social and democratic rights is a socialist programme. Not a single social problem can be solved as long as control over the trillions in assets remains in private hands, and the gamblers on the stock exchanges decide the fate of entire national economies. The financial institutions and large corporations must be expropriated and put under democratic control. Economic life must be planned according to the needs of society rather than the anarchy of the market and the profit interests of the owners of capital. The trade unions and social democratic parties will never embrace such a programme. They are linked to the ruling elite by a thousand threads, sitting in governments and on boards of directors, and enjoy countless privileges. They do not defend the interests of the working class, but seek to divide, paralyze and suppress all opposition from below. A socialist programme cannot be realized through applying pressure to the existing state institutions. It necessitates the independent mobilization of millions of workers for the establishment of a workers’ government and the United Socialist States of Europe. This requires the building of a revolutionary party, the International Committee of the Fourth International, and its sections around the world.

The truth about the situation in Libya Continued from page four In 2004, the George W. Bush administration ended sanctions on Libya. Western oil companies and banks and other corporations initiated huge direct investments in Libya and in trade with Libyan enterprises. There was also a growth of unemployment in Libya and in cutbacks in social spending, leading to further inequality between rich and poor, and is class polarization. But Gaddafi himself was still considered a thorn in the side of the imperialist powers. They want absolute puppets, not simply partners, in their plans for exploitation. The Wikileaks released State Department cables between 2007 and 2010 that showed the United States and Western oil companies were condemning Gaddafi for what they called “resource nationalism.” Gaddafi even threatened to re-nationalize Western oil companies’ property unless Libya was granted a larger share of the revenue for their projects. As an article in today’s New York Times Business section said honestly: ““Colonel Qaddafi proved to be a problematic partner for the international oil companies, frequently raising fees and taxes and making other demands. A new government with close ties to NATO may be an easier partner for Western nations to deal with.” Even the most recent CIA Fact Book publication on Libya, written before the armed revolt championed by NATO, complained of the measured tempo of pro-market reforms in Libya: “Libya faces a long road ahead in liberalizing the COMBAT: July/August, 2011

socialist-oriented economy, but initial steps— including applying for WTO membership, reducing some subsidies, and announcing plans for privatization—are laying the groundwork for a transition to a more market-based economy.” (CIA World Fact Book) The beginning of the armed revolt by disaffected members of the Libyan military and political establishment on February 23 provided the opportunity for the U.S. imperialists, in league with their French and British counterparts, to militarily overthrow the Libyan government and replace it with a client or stooge regime. Of course, in the revolt were workers and young people who had many legitimate grievances against the Libyan government. But what is critical in an armed struggle for state power is not the composition of the rank-and-file soldiers, but the class character and political orientation of the leadership. Character of the National Transitional Council The National Transitional Council (NTC) constituted itself as the leadership of the uprising in Benghazi, Libya’s second largest city. The central leader is Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, who was Libya’s Minister of Justice until his defection at the start of the uprising. He was one of a significant number of Western-oriented and neoliberal officials from Libya’s government, diplomatic corps and military ranks who joined the opposition in the days immediately after the start of the revolt.

As soon as it was established, the NTC began issuing calls for imperialist intervention. These appeals became increasing panicky as it became clear that, contrary to early predictions that the Gaddafi-led government would collapse in a matter of days, it was the “rebels” who faced imminent defeat in the civil war. In fact, it was only due to the U.S./NATO bombing campaign, initiated with great hurry on March 19, that the rebellion did not collapse. The last five months of war have erased any doubt about the pro-imperialist character of the NTC. One striking episode took place on April 22, when Senator John McCain made a “surprise” trip to Benghazi. A huge banner was unveiled to greet him with an American flag printed on it and the words: “United States of America – You have a new ally in North Africa.” Similar to the military relationship between the NATO and Libyan “rebel” armed forces, the NTC is entirely dependent on and subordinated to the U.S., French, British and Italian imperialist governments. If the Pentagon, CIA, and Wall Street succeed in installing a client regime in Tripoli, it will accelerate and embolden the imperialist threats and intervention against other independent governments, such as Syria and Venezuela. In each case, we will see a similar process unfold, including the demonization of the leadership of the targeted countries so as to silence or mute a militant anti-war response to the aggression of the war-makers. Page Five


Meet Jankie Persaud, A.A. GAWU’s Honorary President & over 60 years in Sugar

a trusted representative to oversee the cane scale operations was approved by the sugar producers in the same year. The workers on each estate were permitted to identify a cane supervisor of their rank to be present at the Cane Scale for each shift to ensure that the weights of cane of each punt is correctly recorded. Politically, Jankie said, he was inspired by the People’s Progressive Party which was formed in 1950, and particularly by young Dr Cheddi Jagan who was championing the rights of all workers, the right President Bharrat Jagdeo presenting Cde Jankie Persaud with his Special Awardee Certficate at the Union’s to adult suffrage, etc 19th Congress in August, 2009 since his return to In this edition of Combat, we profile the Union’s current Guyana from studies Honorary President and long-standing stalwart, Cde Jankie abroad and his winning a seat in the Legislative Council in Persaud. He was born on March 31, 1932 at Enterprise Pas- 1947. ture on the East Coast of Demerara. He was the seventh of eight children born to Beharry and Duijie. Jankie’s father, like He said when he first heard Cheddi Jagan at a public meeting Jankie, was a sugar worker. His task was to load canes stacked he knew right away that he was committed to representing by cane cutters on the banks next to the canals where the the “grass-root” people. Jankie sought and became a proud cane punts were placed. Jankie’s mother also laboured in the member of the PPP from the early days after the Party was sugar industry as a weeder. formed in January, 1950. In 1965, he was elected a member of the central committee of the party for the first time. At aged 22, Jankie got married and out of the union came He said he was successful in remaining a member for many five children. Jankie was proud to attend Non Pareil Anglican years until 1996, when he did not take part in the election of School, but his school attendance lasted up to Standard Four, that year’s triennial Congress. since his father chose him to tend a small number of cattle to supplement the household income. Cde Jankie remarked that his active involvement in many trade union and political battles allows him to garner tremenIn 1950, Cde Jankie, at aged 18, got employment at Enmore dous experience, and he felt he made a contribution to betEstate as a cowpen boy to assist in tending the Estate’s cat- ter the welfare and rights of his fellow Guyanese. He recalled tle. After a few months, he took up work as a trench-cleaner, the battles for the recognition of GAWU by the sugar plantand later, in 1951, as a cane-cutter. He emerged as a worker ers, the struggle for adult suffrage; the gaining of political inleader as he became concerned about the problems and dependence of the country; the struggle for the restoration grievances that affected workers in his gang. He was always of free and transparent elections in Guyana, etc. In GAWU, able to summon the courage to speak to the estate’s manag- he served in many capacities before and after the Union’s ers on issues that had to be addressed. recognition. He held the posts of treasurer, vice president and president. He saw some significant expansion of GAWU He became a member of the Guiana Industrial Workers Un- when he was at the helm like the Union becoming the repreion (GIWU) which was prominent in the 1948 strike when sentative body of workers at Caricom Rice Mills Limited, BEV five (5) sugar workers were massacred in connivance be- Processors Inc, Demerara Distillers Limited Security, Noble tween the sugar planters and the colonial police. Soon af- House Seafoods and Demerara Timbers Limited. ter 1953 that Union became defunct. The incumbent union representing field and factory sugar workers, the Man Power He said that if he had to live his life all over again and the Citizen’s Association, was despised by the overwhelming ma- struggle ahead was similar to what it was at the beginning of jority of workers for its neglect to represent the interest of the 50’s, he would not lose a moment to be in the people’s its members. Many workers’ issues were championed by the struggle once again. workers themselves across the sugar industry. For Jankie’s outstanding contribution to the restoration of free elections, and for his dedicated service to the working In 1971, there was a major struggle with the Sugar Produc- people of Guyana, Cde Jankie was awarded the Arrow of ers Association when cane cutters, who had been question- Achievement during Dr Jagan’s Presidency on May 26, 1996. ing the accurate functioning of the Cane Scales, reached a He also became a Justice of the Peace and a Commissioner of rebellious dimension. The successor Union to the GIWU, the Oaths to Affidavits on July 04, 1994. He was also recognised Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), al- by GAWU at the 19th Delegates’ Congress in August, 2009 though not recognised by the planters, supported the strug- for his outstanding contribution to the Union and his support gle across the industry. The demand of cane-cutters to have to the upliftment of the members of the Union. COMBAT: July/August, 2011

GAWU & Noble House Seafoods conclude Agreement for 2011 Noble House Seafoods Limited and the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) concluded negotiations on August 18, 2011, resulting in the company’s 300-person workforce being awarded a six (6) per cent across-the-board pay hike for a one-year period commencing from April 01, 2011. Workers could receive an additional three (3) per cent on the attainment of the production target. The parties also agreed to higher meal allowances, and survivors’ grant in the case of industrial death of an employee. The union and the company also decided to address the implementation of a contributory pension scheme for all employees. The Company’s negotiating team was led by its General Manager, Leslia Ramalho and included other Senior Managers, while the Union’s delegation was led by its General Secretary, Cde Seepaul Narine and the shop stewards

EDUCATION CORNER:

Global Crises & Global Governance

During the year 2010, three major reports were prepared by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs relating to economic and social conditions. There were: World Economic and Social Survey 2010 entitled “Retooling Global Development, Report on the World Social Situation 2010 entitled “Rethinking Poverty and The Millennium Development Goals Report 2010 All of these reports emphasised the serious impact of the global crisis which emerged in 2008. In the Overview of “Retooling Global Development”, Sha Zukang, the UN UnderSecretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs stated: “The global economic crisis of 2008-2009 exposed systemic failures in the workings of financial markets and major deficiencies at the core of economic policy making. The rapid spread of the financial fallout in the United States of America throughout nearly the entire world, affecting jobs and livelihoods, underscored the interconnectedness of the global economy. Moreover, the economic and financial crisis came on top of several other crises. Skyrocketing but highly volatile world food and energy prices reflected a decades-long neglect of food agriculture and failure to reign in increasingly speculative energy markets. Climate change is already a clear and present danger whose consequences are being felt in many parts of the world in the form of more frequent and severe droughts and excessive rainfall; its effects are compounding the other crises.” The USG went on to show the links of the crises to the weaknesses in global governance and pointed to the need for coherent policy responses when he stated as follows: “These multiple dramas have unfolded simultaneously and have exposed major weaknesses in our mechanisms of global governance for facing up to these challenges. While the strong desire for quick economic recovery is understandable, getting “back on track” would mean returning to an unsustainable path of global development. Sustained and widespread future prosperity will require major reforms in global economic governance and new thinking about global economic development.” Continued in the next edition Page Six


FITUG/GAWU protests imperialist intervention in Libya America’s need for puppets - not partners

As yet another Arab-Independent state reels from imperialistic-inspired “regime change”, the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) and its largest affiliate, the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), wish to place on record their abhorrence at the deadly machinations of the West and its NATO forces under the facade of assisting popular revolt(s) by the people. To put in context the lies that Libya cried out for revolution and change, it is instructive to read the recent assessments of the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). According to the CIA’s World Fact Book: “Because of Libya’s economic policies, living standards for the population had jumped dramatically after 1969. Having a small population and substantial income from its oil production, augmented with the Gaddafi regime’s farreaching policy of social benefits, created a huge advance in the social and economic status for the population. Libya was still a class society with rich and poor, and gaps between urban and rural living standards; but illiteracy was basically wiped out, while education and health care were free and extensively accessible. By 2010, the per capita income in Libya was near the highest in Africa at $14,000, and life expectancy rose to over 77 years” Even more was admitted by the latest Fact Book before the current armed revolt. The CIA noted the measured tempo of pro-market reforms in Libya: “Libya faces a long road ahead in liberalizing the socialist-oriented economy, but initial steps— including applying for WTO membership, reducing some subsidies,

and announcing plans for privatization— are laying the groundwork for a transition to a more market-based economy.” The beginning of the armed revolt, on February 23, 2011, by disaffected members of the Libyan military and political establishment provided the opportunity for the US imperialists, in league with their French and British counterparts, to overthrow militarily the Libyan government and replace it with a client or stooge regime. Of course, in the revolt were ordinary people who had many legitimate grievances against the Libyan government. But what is critical in an armed struggle for state power is not the composition of the rank-and-file soldiers, but the class character and political orientation of the leadership FITUG/GAWU would urge the Government and People of Guyana to study this latest manipulation of an Arab People’s impatience which was made to be an excuse for NATO’s aggression. NATO’s imposition of itself it nothing but a pandering to the remnants of class division in Libya. The alternative government - the socalled National Transitional Council (NTC) - is nothing but a body of upper-class, Western-oriented Generals who were uncomfortable with Colonel Gaddafi’s unique Libyan Welfare State. The Council is steeped in the pro-colonial mindset of days when Libya’s high-quality oil reserves developed Mussolini’s Italy, the British and the United States. FITUG/GAWU implores right-thinking leaders to study the consequences of the demolition of Libya’s sovereignty. How many puppet regimes does the West want in North Africa?

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Better workers’ welfare for Guyana’s development Excerpts from President Komal Chand’s May Day Address 2011 Continued from last edition Critchlow Labour College

nored their right. The Union, on the assurance of the settlement of the matter, would withdraw its lawsuit.

Let us also be reminded of GAWU’s pronouncement, a few years ago, that the Government’s subvention to the Critchlow Labour College ought to be restored on condition that there is a properly constituted Board which is run democratically, and there is transparency and accountability of the College’s finances. Incidentally, it is pleasing to note that the GAWU Labour College and the Critchlow Labour College will jointly observe Critchlow Month with a symposium on Occupational Safety and Health at the GAWU Labour College on May 04, 2011.

Conclusion

Sugar Industry

Cde President, in welcoming you, allow me to seize the opportunity to bring to your attention that Resolution which was passed in Parliament and related to Clico has so far not been applied to GAWU. I am confident that you are aware of this oversight and it will be soon corrected.

Turning to the sugar industry, comrades, there is a burning issue which is of major concern to sugar workers. They have not been able to get the five (5) per cent hike they received last year added to their rate of pay from January 01, 2011. Employees in the private sector and the rest of the public sector received theirs. Therefore, it could be concluded that sugar workers have been treated discriminately, so far. However, on April 21, 2011, the Corporation, at a special meeting with the Union’s 50-person negotiating team, assured that the new rate would be implemented not later than June 30, 2011 with retroactivity to January 01, 2011. The vigilant sugar workers are working assiduously to reap as much canes as they possibly could reap during this crop now that the weather has vastly improved. They are, however, looking forward to receiving the new rate of pay not later than the stipulated date.

Comrades, on this May Day, FITUG’s platform is being graced by the presence of the President of the Republic. We are pleased to welcome him at our celebration. We well know that over the recent years he has won personal acclaim, and in so doing raised the profile of Guyana forwith his LCDS project. Unusual climate behaviour in our day has triggered off large disasters, while threatening entire peoples. LCDS can be seen, then, as Guyana’s contribution to stave off the threat to human civilization.

At this time, GAWU sends May Day greetings to its members, all the workers of Guyana and throughout the world. At this time we reaffirm our solidarity with workers and oppressed peoples the world over struggling against imperialism and its militaristic polices as well as its economics based on greed, plunder and exploitation. At this time, we need to restate our support to all those who stand for peace, democracy, freedom, protection of their sovereignty, and economic justice.

At this time, GAWU recommits itself to unity and struggle in the interests We understand from some quarters of its members, the Guyanese workof Guysuco that the Diamond work- ing people and the continuing develers would be awarded their sever- opment of our country. ance pay at last. We shall hail such decision when it is pronounced, and Long Live May Day! the aggrieved workers would be Long Live the Workers of Guyana! pleased and most satisfied that the Long Live Proletarian InternationalCorporation, though late, has not ig- ism! Page Seven


Wages agreement inked

Continued from page one

Further, the agreement which was appended between the Union and the Corporation, on August 19, 2011, for another five (5) per cent increase in pay for this year 2011, has served to improve the relationship between the workers and the Corporation. Preceding the signing of the Agreement, the Union issued the following statement on August 18, 2011:“The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) and the Guyana Sugar Corporation Inc (Guysuco) concluded negotiations on August 16, 2011 after eleven (11) sessions starting June 20, 2011, resulting in sugar workers being awarded with effect from January 01, 2011, a five per cent (5%) pay rise. Last July, workers across the industry were belatedly paid another five per cent (5%) rise retroactive to January 01, 2011. The Corporation had been demanding that this year’s (2011) sugar target must be achieved as a precondition for the five per cent (5%) increase in the rate of pay to be effected from January 01, 2011. It is recalled that President Bharrat Jagdeo intervened late last year when the cashstrapped Corporation contended that no increase in wages was possible. The Union’s President sharing the platform with President Jagdeo, among others,at the Rally of Enmore Martyrs on June 16, 2011, in pressing for the implementation of the higher rate of pay, 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. They would not like to see the delay last beyond June 30, 2011.” This year is the first time in six (6) years that the Corporation and the Union reached an accord at bilateral negotiations. There was the intervention of arbitrators, conciliators from the Ministry of Labour and the Executive President during those past years. It is also the first time since collective bargaining was restored between the Union and the Corporation in 1989 that wage-settlement was reached months before the end of the year. The Union’s forty-five - (45) - strong negotiation team, including elected delegates of the rank- and file, unanimously approved last Tuesday the five

per cent (5%) rise in pay notwithstanding the Union’s original claim of twelve per cent (12%). Members of the negotiating team paid cognizance to the Audited Statement of the Corporation for 2010 and the Management Accounts as at May 31, 2011 which indicate that the cash-strapped Corporation, for the first five months of this year, is indebted to creditors and bankers to the tune of over six (6) billion dollars. Guysuco is expecting that this year’s revenue arising from molasses and sugar production, which target was revised in early July to 282, 712 from 298, 879 tonnes set at the beginning of the year, would enable it to break-even at the end of the year. In the course of the negotiation, the Union insisted that the Corporation furnishes all relevant information to allow the Union’s negotiators to be fully acquainted with facts, and that the full process of the negotiations be fully respected. The Union was wary that an acceptance of the Corporation’s five per cent (5%) offer should not be accepted automatically without the completion of the process, notwithstanding its sister Union, the National Association of Clerical Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE), by agreement dated July 08, 2011, approved the five per cent (5%) wage/salary increase. GAWU takes this opportunity to insist that the Corporation’s Board of Directors and its Management team be tireless in putting the Skeldon new Factory right, so that the Estate’s targeted yearly production of 110,000 tonnes would be realized by the end of 2012- the newly-set date of the Corporation. Special attention must also be paid to ensure that the current field expansion work is progressing within the approved time-frame and that the field layout, adequate roads, irrigation canals, drainage trenches, etc are properly constructed. These are among other concerns of the Union and we take the opportunity in the interest of the industry and the workers to urge that such concerns be addressed with consistency and dispatch. We look forward in the coming period that other outstanding issues of the Union can be addressed in an amicable and genuinely co-operative atmosphere.” At the signing of the Agreement GAWU’s President Komal Chand called for sugar production to be increased so that the Corporation could remain economically viable and competitive. He reiterated his concerns with the Skeldon Sugar Modernisation Project (SSMP), noting that adequate steps were not being undertaken by the Corporation and the Ministry of Agriculture to remedy the defects of the new factory, and that there was no proper

execution of work toward the field expansion of over 10,000 hectares. He noted that high world market sugar price is compensating for the cut in the EU sugar price, but lamented that Guysuco’s poor sugar production is not giving the Corporation the opportunity to have surplus sugar to sell outside of its contractual markets. The Union’s President also contended that the industry must shortly produce at least 300,000 tonnes sugar per year as the first phase to save itself as an entity. Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud shared the same concerns as the GAWU President. He attributed some of the problems plaguing the industry to the lack of proper management. He said: “Guysuco does not have the competence or expertise to manage the Skeldon project. Minister Persaud noted, “that is the reality we are dealing with, let’s not fool ourselves.” He added that as a result of the management problems at the Skeldon estate, that the Board of Directors is currently considering two proposals from a Chinese and an Indian company to have a management contract to operate the Skeldon estate. The Minister also commended the Union and the Corporation for their efforts to ensure that the negotiations ended amicably. He said: “this Agreement in 2011 is unique in the fact that it was concluded without any level of acrimony. That is the type of atmosphere this industry needs to move forward and to deal with the challenges – internal and external.” He expressed hope that the Agreement would lead to a cultured partnership. “That is what we want, whereby workers and management can sit and work, and at the end of the day, to ensure that Guyana’s sugar industry is viable and remains competitive.” The sugar industry, he said, is very important not only from an economic point of view, but also from a social standpoint. Minister Persaud noted that, “the sugar industry is our industry, the people’s industry, and it requires steadfastness and requires a high level of commitment.” He added that in order for sugar to be sustained here, more than 300,000 tonnes must be produced per year. If Guysuco makes less, then it is not making money, it is not economically viable.” The Government of Guyana, Persaud stressed, is committed and will remain committed to ensuring that the sugar industry is sustained.

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


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