Issue #1 Volume #43
Editorial
Combat Voice of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU)
The cost of living One of the loudest cries of the working people at this moment concerns the steadily rising cost-of-living. According to data released, inflation was 5.2 percent in 2021. Strikingly, but not unsurprisingly, food prices expanded by 11.6 percent during the same period. That is more than double the official rate of inflation. Over the last five (5) years, food prices rose by nearly 27 percent. This comparison is important as the 2021 food price gain accounted for 40 percent of the increases recorded in the period. Notwithstanding official statistics, workers continue to lament the increases in prices of many staple commodities, much in excess of official data.
January-March, 2022
GuySuCo hoping to rebound in 2022
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) food price index has indicated that, across the world, food prices have risen astronomically. Between January and February 2022, food prices globally rose by 3.9 percent. It was among the highest single-month increases in food prices ever recorded. The FAO also indicated that between February 2021 and February 2022, food prices globally shot up by 20.7 percent. It is almost ironic that food prices are reaching unprecedented levels when food production is also reaching new highs. The FAO has indicated that across all major food groups, production is expanding. The era of bountiful harvests has come when many in the global poor are facing starvation and malnutrition, as they are simply priced out of the market. The rising prices of food, according to the FAO, is driven by several factors. Majorly, price increases have been attributed to higher price levels of internationally traded food commodities and a threefold increase in freight costs. For developing countries, the FAO has warned they rapidly rising prices of food commodities and energy pose significant challenges for poorer countries and consumers, who spend large shares of their incomes on these basic necessities. Though reamining a major agricultural producing country we in Guyana have not been spared. Increases in the cost of imported food items as well as imported agricultural inputs have contributed to the massive jump in food prices. The increases have largely been blamed on global supply chain constraints, which have driven up shipping costs while lengthening shipping times, contributing at times to shortages. For its part, the Government has sought to take proactive steps to alleviate the burdens faced by the populace. In this regard, imports were being assessed at pre-pandemic shipping rates to reduce taxes payable and curtail increases at the shelves. While good intentioned, arguably, it has not translated to any meaningful reduction in prices. In as much as there are price increases which may be out of control, the Government support, amounting to billions of dollars lost to the treasury, has not benefitted the ordinary Guyanese. Today, the Guyanese working people continue to confront escalating prices for many important commodities. Prices for important and essential items, in some instances, have more than doubled, and there is hardly any commodity which has seen any reduction in price. It appears that some in the business community, while benefitting from the Government’s largesse, continue to extract profits and super profits from our working people. It is an unfair situation to both the Government and ordinary Guyanese. There is obviously a need to relook at the current policy with a view to providing greater direct support to the working people.
The GuySuCo, following its poor performance in 2021, hopes to rebound somewhat, and estimates sugar production will reach 64,889 tonnes in 2022. According to the GuySuCo’s production estimates, the industry will produce 20,261 tonnes sugar in the first crop, and 44,628 tonnes in the second crop. Even if this year’s anticipated production is realized, the improvement is still far away from the potential of the industry. Turning to the first crop, GuySuCo, as at March 29, 2022, has produced 7,924 tonnes, with production at the respective estates being as follows: Estate
Target
Production
Variance
Albion
9,078
4,893
4,185
Blairmont
6,888
2,980
3,908
Uitvlugt
4,295
66
4,229
Industry
20,261
7,939
12,322
The production targets can be hardly considered targets altogether. In the past, the functional estates would have attained such production levels in just a few weeks, and without any fanfare and fuss. Indeed, the situation causes us great apprehen-
sion and a deep sense of anxiety. Certainly, given the substantial investment channelled to the industry in recent times, high expectations are harboured that the industry would begin to see positive momentum especially given the industry’s importance to thousands of persons and scores of villages. Presently, the Uitvlugt first crop, though officially commenced,has not gotten underway, as the factory suffered a breakdown within hours of the crop’s commencement. Though efforts to repair the damaged components are underway, we ask whether it is not an instance of being penny wise and pound foolish. Certainly, such obvious issues which have deleterious effects ought to have been addressed comprehensively in the out-of-crop period. Yet it appears not serious enough attention was paid, and the patchwork repairs were obviously inadequate. This year, the Government is channelling a further six billion dollars to the industry. We all have a responsibility to ensure that monies are spent properly, and not on extravagance. Investments in the fields and factories are necessary, but similarly are investments in the workers, without whose labour none of the wheels of the industry can turn.
Page 2
Combat - January-March, 2022
GAWU pickets NIS Leonora office
On January 05, 2022, members of the Uitvlugt GAWU Branch were joined by workers of Uitvlugt Estate in a picketing exercise outside of the NIS’ Leonora local office. The GAWU, among the services it offers, pursues workers’ matters at the NIS, whether they relate to the accessing of benefits, updating of contributions, or obtaining of old age and other pensions. To this end, the Union’s officer stationed at Uitvlugt would visit the Leonora office, which is charged with responsibility for the area, to follow up matters. Our officer, despite regular visits, has been unable to get any update on the issues he is representing. The NIS office would often indicate that they could not provide any answer, or, in some instances, simply not provide any response. Workers have also shared similar occurrences with the union as well. One former worker related that he has been seeking for several years to obtain his old-age pension, and despite visiting the office almost daily in recent months, he has been unable to have his matter addressed. It is
most disheartening that those who contributed to the development of our country are treated in such a manner. At this time, the Union’s officers stationed across the country as well as its offices in Georgetown and New Amsterdam, are aggregately representing several hundred matters before the NIS. Our Union continues to regularly write the NIS on matters, and on many occasions, we would receive a response several weeks after our correspondence was sent. We are aware of several matters which we have been seeking to address over several years, and though we continue to follow up with the Scheme, those matters remain languishing. The GAWU has been seeking, for some time, to engage the NIS directly with a view to bringing matters to a conclusion. Though the NIS has committed to same, attempts to have engagements convened have been futile. The GAWU is hopeful that the NIS could improve its service to the thousands of contributors who depend on their benefits.
National Minimum Wage improvement appears forgotten
It has now been more than two (2) months since the National Tripartite Committee (NTC), which comprises representatives of the labour movement, the business sector and the government, unanimously agreed to hike the national minimum wage to $60,000 monthly. At that time, the Minister of Labour, Honourable Joseph Hamilton, who chairs the NTC, committed to taking the decision of the Committee to Cabinet for approval. Since then, we have yet to hear from the Minister on the matter.
The FITUG has long advocated an improvement in the national minimum wage. We believe it is now necessary that workers at the basement level benefit from an improvement in their pay levels. We hasten to remind that the last improvement was as far back as 2016, and without a doubt, the conditions of life are not the same. The Federation felt given the all-round support, the approval of the hike was a mere formality, and we had high expectations that workers, at this, time would have benefitted from the improvement. Given the hikes in the cost-of-living, most recently evidenced by the substantial hike in the cost of fuel, there is no justification to continue to perpetuate a denial of the improvement. We urge, at this time, that the procrastination be brought to an end, and our nation’s workers receive the deserving hike in the national minimum wage.
Is Mr Yarde saying sugar workers should live in poverty? As the sun set on 2021, the GAWU’s attention was drawn to the message by Mr Patrick Yarde, President/CEO of the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU). In his message, Mr Yarde described State support to the sugar sector as “haphazard”, contending they have not brought any returns to the Guyanese people. Maybe Mr Yarde has forgotten that tens of thousands of Guyanese depend on the sugar industry for their well-being. Is it that the goodly gentleman is saying that any right-thinking Government should allow these Guyanese to live in poverty and destitution? We do not think Mr Yarde had such intentions, as, in his message, he charged that “[w]orkers in Guyana… deserve to have the ability to sustain themselves and families…”. Shouldn’t sugar workers and their families and those who depend on the industry not have similar goals, Mr Yarde? Or is he saying they should be condemned to “…living in poverty like leaches and mendicants…”? Mr Yarde, in his tirade against the sugar industry, speaks to profitability in the sector. Again, the gentleman makes the cardinal error of ignoring economic versus financial profitability. While indeed the sugar industry has been challenged to realize financial profitability, from an economic point of view, it continues to record positive contributions. The recent ILO socio-economic study following the closure of sugar estates had starkly outlined the social and economic vacuum created by the closure. Certainly, any right-thinking individual should be able to discern the difference and reach rational conclusions. Of course, this situation is not unique to Guyana, and as Mr Yarde may know, given his reported regular visits, even the great USA pro-
vides massive support to its agricultural sector, given its wider economic importance. The GPSU leader, in his message, also exposes his ignorance of the sector, as he speaks about production costs vis-à-vis world market prices. Had he been paying attention, he would have been aware that GuySuCo is seeking to reorient itself by producing greater value-added sugar, which attracts better prices. Mr Yarde would have also recognised GuySuCo recently informing that, in spite of poor production, it managed to reduce its losses. Clearly, the investments Mr Yarde bemoans is beginning to pay dividends. Additionally, they are several other viable income streams which the industry could pursue. Finally, Mr Yarde, in concluding his castigation of the sugar industry, alleges that Government support is linked to political considerations. To the best of our knowledge, the sugar industry comprises workers who probably support every political organization in Guyana. However, Mr Yarde parrots a statement that has been wildly made by other political personalities in a seeming attempt to stoke divisiveness in our country. As a long-standing trade unionist, we find such statements from the gentleman as highly irresponsible and deeply disturbing. At the end of the day, we are all Guyanese, and we should be our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers seeking to build one another rather than tearing down with harmful rhetoric and uninformed statements. We recognise that an important element to our nation’s success requires collaboration to ensure that all our boats rise simultaneously. To seek to advocate practices that spur inequity will not ensure a better Guyana for today and tomorrow.
FITUG supports Local Content Act
The Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) has long held the position that Guyanese must foremostly benefit from our country’s natural wealth. Indeed, we contended that our patrimony needed to ensure the long-term development of our country. It was against that background that the Federation was among the several organisations that were actively involved, and expressed our views in the iterative consultative process in respect of the recently enacted Local Content Act. The FITUG was, therefore, disappointed to
learn that extra-national elements were seeking to seemingly reverse our national efforts to put Guyanese first. As a patriotic organization, we cannot idly stand at the sidelines and allow our efforts to ensure the advancement of our people to be slowed or halted. We are of the firm view that our country, as a sovereign nation, must take every opportunity to ensure that our people benefit maximally from its resources. This is the aspiration of all peoples and governments. Thus, efforts to rewind our progress cannot be countenanced. We noticed such efforts come against the background of regional integration. Of course, we are also advised that the steps taken by the Guyanese are not unusual. We have learnt that even more stringent measures have been taken by our regional counterparts, without then any whimper of disagreement. The Federation recognises the importance of regional collaboration in the collective interest of our small economies. We, however, must draw a line when such efforts seek to conflict with the collective hopes of our people.
Combat - January-March, 2022
Page 3
GAWU disappointed by Minister Hamilton’s statements
The GAWU must express its deep disappointment with some of the remarks made by Labour Minister Joseph Hamilton about trade unions during his appearance on Globespan on March 22, 2022. In as much as the Minister did not attribute his sentiments to any particular union/s, his comments, in our view, do not help to enhance his image among the thousands of unionized workers in Guyana. Moreover, it may have well demonstrated an anti-worker bias by the Minister, though we do not believe this was his intention. Minister Hamilton shared that he believed some unions were not providing adequate representation to their membership. However, a few moments later, the Minister said that, under his tenure, twenty-two (22) agreements were signed between Unions and various workplaces. This, he said, was greater than what was achieved in the period of the Coalition Administration. It therefore begs the question: if unions are signing more agreements, then how aren’t they providing sufficient representation? Clearly, there is an obvious disconnect in the logic. We, nonetheless, hold that improvements in all organisations, including the Ministry of Labour, should be an ongoing process. The Minister also said no union has ever spoken to him about any other matter besides improvements in workers’ pay. For GAWU, we have engaged the Minister on several matters, such as Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) and need for strengthening regulations, the freedom of association, equality in the workplace, and collective bargaining, just to name a few. Ironically, the GAWU has thus far not engaged the Minister and his Ministry on pay increase issues, except for the improvement of the National Minimum Wage. Maybe Minister Hamilton, given his busy schedule, does not recall those interactions. Pay rises remain a bread-and-butter issue for both workers and unions. The ability of workers and their families to advance their well-being and realize their life’s aspirations is linked to their incomes. Obviously, unions will seek to ensure that workers benefit from the improvement
their enterprises record. They certainly would have assisted in allowing those enterprises to record improved profitability and productivity. In the unorganized section of the labour force, are workers benefitting commensurately with the improvements their employers are recording? Maybe they are, but maybe they aren’t! Minister Hamilton said unions don’t speak about OSH, and he urged that they do. We agree that OSH, is important. In that vein, the GAWU has collaborated with the Ministry over the years in the conduct of OSH seminars and other activities in support of this workplace issue. However, we urge the Minister to utilize the Ministry’s statistical department, which he touted, to contrast OSH incidents between organized and unorganized workplaces. The data would tend to indicate that OSH issues are more prevalent in the latter, rather than the former. There is good reason for this. Unions and employers have been able to collaborate to meaningfully address this issue. Though again, we believe, there must be an ongoing assessment to identify and mitigate risks. Our Union, in just the last few days, has been working with employers in several enterprises to renew the mandates of joint workplace OSH committees, as outlined by the Act apart from other OSH issues. In contrast, such features are absent in many unorganized workplaces. In recent times, GAWU has had cause to write the Ministry regarding several OSH issues that came to its attention at unorganized workplaces. The Minister charged that unions were stuck in a bygone era. He said workers were more willing now-a-days to enter contractual employment, as opposed to permanent employment. He articulated that Unions advocated the latter. He justified contract employment by saying that workers would receive gratuity bi-annually, allowing them to finance important acquisitions, such as a home or a vehicle. We are conscious that many workers have productively utilized their gratuity to them and their family’s benefit. However, outside of the State sector, is the Minister aware of how many workers receive gratuity? Our own information, though not complete,
indicates that workers seldom receive gratuity or any superannuation benefits. If they have permanent employment, they may have pension benefits, which they would receive should they leave their jobs. We hasten to wonder whether the Minister is aware of the many workers who are denied their lawful terminal benefits on the attainment of pension. We have met several such workers, whom we had to direct to the Ministry, given the refusal of employers to engage our union, as they claim they do not have any legal obligation to address GAWU. Even in instances when employees receive gratuity, it means that besides NIS, they have no other retirement benefit. Does the Minister believe that the NIS benefits, though important, are sufficient to meet expenses of pensioners? Will it meet greater cost of health care at an advanced age? Or would it be able to surmount rising living costs? Certainly, if NIS was sufficient, then many retired workers would not have been at work or be highly dependent on the State for many services. Additionally, as the Minister would know, contract employment goes against the grain of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Decent Work Agenda; which, among other things, emphasizes security of tenure. Contract employ-
ees, at times, could have the proverbial Sword of Damocles hanging over their heads. Should workers live in fear that their contract may not be renewed annually? The Minister said his Ministry has delivered substantial training to workers under his leadership. This, as far as we are aware, is one of the many functions of the Ministry, but we saw the Minister boasting about doing his job. Nonetheless, we would urge the Minister to publicize the worker-training the Ministry provides; GAWU would encourage union members to attend. We believe it would augment the training programmes undertaken by our Union. The Minister also criticized unions’ leadership. While we cannot speak for other unions, GAWU has taken great effort to ensure there is a mixture of younger and experienced persons in our leadership. We have allocated considerable resources to improve and expand our leadership. We see this as an investment in the future and to ensure the continuity of the organisation. The Minister’s remarks may be seen as anti-worker. This is not helpful, given his role, where he is expected to balance workers’ and employers’ issues. We believe that despite the views expressed by Minister Hamilton, unions remain relevant, more so at this time when workers in the unorganized sectors are complaining regularly about disrespect and indignation at their workplaces. As GAWU has experienced, in recent times, some employers are sparing no effort to avert union presence. Certainly, given the union-avoidance attitude we have seen, the relevance of unions cannot be wished away or downplayed in any way. Our Union must add it does not believe that the Minister’s views are reflective of those of the wider Government of Guyana. We are aware of the Government’s commitment to involve genuine stakeholders in national development.
GAWU expresses sympathy on the passing of Dr Yesu Persaud The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) was saddened to learn of the passing of Dr Yesu Persaud, former Chairman of the Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL). GAWU and Dr Persaud’s relations span several decades, and began during his stint in the sugar industry. As one of the bargaining agents of the DDL, our relations were consolidated; and, undoubtedly, his involvement led to several improvements to the workers’ conditions of work. We have always admired his humility and his desire to ensure that workers were treated fairly. We believe this must have been influenced by his own life on the sugar plantation. The GAWU sees this as
one of the many outstanding qualities of the late Dr Persaud. The GAWU recollects his support to the sugar industry. He was among those who brought the industry into the hands of the State. Later, he denounced efforts to privatize it during the Hoyte Administration. His contribution to the restoration of democracy is also remembered at this time. Indeed, this is yet one of his many contributions to the Guyanese people. At this time, the GAWU extends its sincerest condolences to the family and friends of Dr Yesu Persaud. We also send our sympathies to the Management and Staff of the DDL and the other organisations to which he was affiliated. Certainly, our country has lost another outstanding son of the soil.
Page 4
Combat - January-March, 2022
Is Washington intent on hampering Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations?
By Nauman Sadiq In a bizarre turn of events, Russian and Ukrainian delegations taking part in peace negotiations in Istanbul appeared to have reached a breakthrough. But following a tepid response by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, contemptuously dismissing Russian peace overtures as nothing more than “delaying tactics” meant to “deceive people and deflect attention,” head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, walked back the earlier optimistic remarks, saying “a gradual military de-escalation does not necessarily mean an immediate ceasefire.” Hours later, in what appeared to be either a coincidence or a sabotage attempt, an ammunition depot across the Ukraine border in Russia “mysteriously exploded,” sending thick plumes of smoke into air, visible in videos posted on social media, injuring four Russian soldiers, and effectively pouring cold water over the optimism generated by the likelihood of the success of the peace process between Ukraine and Russia. A Ukrainian missile appeared to have hit a temporary Russian military encampment outside Belgorod, in Russia’s village of Krasny Oktyabr, about 40 miles from the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, said the Russian state-run news agency Tass. The strike would only be the second that struck a military target inside Russia and wounded soldiers. Last week, Tass reported two men were hurt when a shell from Ukraine exploded in the same area. The Russian offer scaling back its blitz north of the capital and focusing instead on liberating Russian-majority Donbas region in east Ukraine, a task that has already been accomplished in large measure, isn’t the first time the Kremlin extended the hand of friendship to Kyiv. Previously, Russia made a similar peace gesture that wasn’t even dignified with a response by Western policymakers, and went almost unheeded in the establishment-controlled media. Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said the offer to scale back military operations was a confidence-building step for the ongoing negotiations with Ukrainian officials in Istanbul. Ukrainian negotiators said that, under their proposals, Kyiv would agree not to join alliances or host bases of foreign troops, but would have security guarantees in terms similar to Article 5, the collective defense clause of the transatlantic NATO military alliance. The proposals, which would require a referendum in Ukraine, mentioned a 15-year consultation period on the status of Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014. The fate of the southeastern Donbas region, which Russia demands Ukraine cede to separatists, would be discussed by the Ukrainian and Russian leaders. Kyiv’s proposals also included one that Moscow would not oppose Ukraine joining the European Union, Russia’s lead negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said. Russia has previously opposed Ukrainian membership of the EU, and especially of the NATO military alliance. Medinsky said Russia’s delegation would study and present the proposals to President Vladimir Putin. Welcoming the Russian peace initiative, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the signals from peace talks with Russia “could be called positive” but added that Ukraine would not slacken its defensive efforts until it noticed “concrete actions.” It would be prudent, however, of the Ukrainian leader to get rid
of the duplicitous NATO interlocutors and try reaching a political settlement to the conflict with Russia bilaterally, if he wishes peace and stability to prevail in the embattled country, because opportunistic NATO leaders have their own axe to grind by taking advantage of the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Ukraine. The Biden administration doesn’t seem particularly enamored of the Russian peace proposal that could bring much-needed relief to the war-ravaged country because, as the seasoned American politician and peace activist Ron Paul aptly observed, Washington’s policy appeared to be “fighting Russia down to the last Ukrainian.” While on a whirlwind Middle East trip in Morocco, Antony Blinken has childishly refused to diplomatically engage with his counterpart Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, since the start of the conflict on February 24, derisively mocked the diplomatic breakthrough achieved in Istanbul as nothing more than “delaying tactics” meant to “deceive people and deflect attention.” Paranoidly echoing the Secretary of State’s imagined apprehensions, the Pentagon said Russia had started moving very small numbers of troops away from positions around Kyiv, describing the move as more of a “repositioning” than a withdrawal. Not to be left behind in the collective Russophobic hysteria inflecting Western policymaking circles and the mainstream media alike, Britain’s Defense Ministry said Moscow was being “forced to pull out troops” from the vicinity of Kyiv to Russia and Belarus, to resupply and reorganize after “taking heavy losses,” adding that Russia was likely to compensate for its reduced ground manoeuvre capability through “mass artillery and missile strikes.” It’s worth recalling that the Russian special military operation wasn’t a full-scale war. It was a calculated military incursion that had well-defined security objectives: the liberation of Donbas and denazification and demilitarization of Ukraine. Those military objectives have already been achieved in large measure, as not only the Russian-majority Donbas, including Kherson and Mariupol, have been liberated, but the battles are ongoing in the adjacent areas in the northeast, Kharkiv and Sumy, that will hopefully fall soon. Sergey Shoigu has already proved, through facts and figures, how the country has been demilitarized, with the combat potential of Ukraine’s armed forces significantly reduced. As for denazification, Donbas was the hub of neo-Nazi Azov, Right Sector, Dnipro 1 and 2, Aidar and myriad of other ultra-nationalist militias funded, armed and trained by the CIA since the 2014 Maidan coup toppling Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and consequent annexation of the Crimean Peninsula by Russia. With the liberation of Donbas and deployment of Russian peacekeeping forces, neo-Nazi militias wouldn’t find a foothold, at least, in east Ukraine, bordering Russia’s vulnerable western flank. As for the “40-mile-long” convoy of battle tanks, armored vehicles and heavy artillery that descended from Belorussia in the north and reached the outskirts of Kyiv in the early days of the war without encountering much resistance en route the capital, that was simply a power projection gambit astutely designed as a diversionary tactic by Russia’s cunning military strategists to deter Ukraine from sending reinforcements to Donbas in east Ukraine, where real battles for territory were actually fought, and scramble to defend the embattled country’s capital instead. Except in the early days of the war, when Russian airstrikes and long-range artillery shelling targeted military infrastructure in the outskirts of Kyiv to reduce the combat potential of Ukraine’s armed forces, the capital did not witness much action during the month-long offensive. Otherwise, with the tremendous firepower at its disposal, the world’s second most powerful military had the demonstrable capability to reduce the whole city to ashes. What further lends credence to the indisputable fact that the Russian assault on Kyiv was meant simply as a show of force, rather than actual military objective to occupy the capital, is the factor that Belarusian troops didn’t take part in the battle despite
staging military exercises alongside Russian forces before the invasion, and despite the fact that Belarusian President Aleksander Lukashenko is a dependable ally of the Russian strongman Vladimir Putin. Although Russia lost the lives of 1,351 soldiers during the war, as candidly admitted by the Russian Defense Ministry, the myth of countless charred Russian tanks, armored vehicles and artillery pieces littering the streets of Ukraine’s towns and cities is a downright fabrication peddled by the corporate media as a psychological warfare tactic to insidiously portray the losing side in the conflict as a winning side. Besides the handful of neo-Nazi militias and foreign mercenaries fighting pitched battles against Russian forces in Donbas, the much-touted “resistance” was nowhere to be found in the rest of Ukraine. As soon as the war began last month, the “valiant resistance” fled across the border to the safety of Poland, Romania and neighbouring countries. The opportunistic militant leaders of the virtually nonexistent “resistance” are reaping windfalls by reportedly selling caches of anti-aircraft and anti-armour munitions provided by NATO countries in the thriving arms markets of Eastern Europe, and buying opulent mansions in southern France and Italy. In the 2001 census, nearly a third of Ukraine’s over 40 million population registered Russian as their first language. In fact, Russian speakers constitute a majority in urban areas of industrialized eastern Ukraine, and socio-culturally identify with Russia. Ukrainian speakers are mainly found in sparsely populated western Ukraine and in rural areas of east Ukraine. Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian together belong to the East Slavic family of languages, and share a degree of mutual intelligibility. Thus, Russians, Byelorussians and Ukrainians are one nation and one country, whose shared history and culture goes all the way back to the golden period of the 10th century Kyivan Rus’. In comparison, what do Ukrainians have in common with NATO powers, their newfound patrons, besides the fact that humanitarian imperialists are attempting to douse fire by pouring gasoline on Ukraine’s proxy war by providing caches of lethal weapons to militant forces holding disenfranchised Ukrainian masses hostage. While addressing a meeting on socioeconomic support for the constituent entities of the Russian Federation on March 16, Russian President Vladimir Putin succinctly elucidated the salient reasons for pre-emptively mounting a military intervention in Ukraine in order to forestall NATO’s encroachment upon Russia’s security interests. Here are a few trenchant excerpts from the lucid and eloquent speech: “We are meeting in a complicated period, as our Armed Forces are conducting a special military operation in Ukraine and Donbass. I would like to remind you that at the beginning, on the morning of February 24, I publicly announced the reasons for ,and the main goal of, Russia’s actions. “It is to help our people in Donbass, who have been subjected to real genocide for nearly eight years in the most barbarous ways, that is, through blockade, large-scale punitive operations, terrorist attacks, and constant artillery raids. Their only guilt was that they demanded basic human rights: to live according to their forefathers’ laws and traditions, to speak their native Russian language, and to bring up their children as they want. “Kiev was not just preparing for war, for aggression against Russia – it was conducting it … Hostilities in Donbass and the shelling of peaceful residential areas have continued all these years. Almost 14,000 civilians, including children, have been killed over this time … Clearly, Kiev’s Western patrons are just pushing them to continue the bloodshed. They incessantly supply Kiev with weapons and intelligence, as well as other types of assistance, including military advisers and mercenaries. “Just like in the 1990s and the early 2000s, they want to try again to finish us off, to reduce us to nothing, by turning us into a weak and dependent country, destroying our territorial integrity and dismembering Russia as they see fit. They failed then, and they will fail this time … Yes, of course, they will back the socalled fifth column, national traitors – those who make money here in our country but live over there, and live not in the geographical sense of the word, but in their minds, in their servile mentality.”
Combat - January-March, 2022
Page 5
As the pandemic devastates the poor, the world’s 10 richest have multiplied their wealth into trillions in Brazil are 1.5 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than White people. • Inequality between countries is expected to rise for the first time in a generation. The proportion of people with COVID-19 who die from the virus in developing countries is roughly double that in rich countries.
By Thalif Deen The numbers are unbelievably staggering: the world’s 10 richest men more than doubled their fortunes from $700 billion to $1.5 trillion - at a rate of $15,000 per second or $1.3 billion a day, according to a new study from Oxfam International. These phenomenal changes in fortune took place during the first two years of a COVID-19 pandemic that has seen the incomes of 99 percent of humanity fall, and over 160 million more people forced into poverty - 60 million more than the figures released by the World Bank in 2020. “If these ten men were to lose 99.999 percent of their wealth tomorrow, they would still be richer than 99 percent of all the people on this planet,” said Oxfam International’s Executive Director Gabriela Bucher. “They now have six times more wealth than the poorest 3.1 billion people. “It has never been so important to start righting the violent wrongs of this obscene inequality by clawing back elites’ power and extreme wealth, including through taxation - getting that money back into the real economy and to save lives,” she said. According to Forbes magazine, the 10 richest people, as at 30 November 2021, who have seen their fortunes grow, include Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bernard Arnault & family, Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Ballmer and Warren Buffet. The pandemic has hit the poorest people, women, and racialized and marginalized groups the hardest. For example, in the US, 3.4 million Black Americans would be alive today if their life expectancy was the same as White people - this is directly linked to historical racism and colonialism, according to the study titled “Inequality Kills” which was released January 17, 2022, ahead of the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) online Davos Agenda. The report finds that a new billionaire is created every 26 hours, while inequality is contributing to the death of at least 21,000 people each day, or one person every four seconds. Other findings include: • The pandemic has set gender parity back from 99 years to now 135 years. 252 men have more wealth than all 1 billion women and girls in Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean combined. • During the second wave of the pandemic in England, people of Bangladeshi origin were five times more likely to die of COVID-19 than the White British population. Black people
Asked for his comments, Ben Phillips, author of How to Fight Inequality, told IPS the new report confirms four vital truths about inequality are now proven beyond doubt. Firstly, inequality kills. Inequality is not just inefficient and unfair. As the data shows, it is deadly. Secondly, inequality is spiralling. The driving cause is neoliberalism, but it has now been supercharged by the pandemic. Thirdly, inequality is a political choice. The rise in inequality is not inevitable. Governments can reduce inequality if they decide to do so. Fourthly, policy-makers will only shift if we make them do so. A reversal in inequality depends on us, ordinary citizens, organizing to push our leaders to make them do their job and put in place the policies that will deliver a fairer, safer, world. Striking a hopeful note, Phillips said: “Though the crisis has made inequality even worse and even harder to bear, the crisis also, paradoxically, has generated an opportunity for transformational shift to tackle inequality, if we seize this moment. “We know the policy mix needed – get the vaccine to everyone by sharing the rights and recipes, drop the debt, expand public services like free health and education, raise up ordinary people’s wages and workers’ rights, tackle discrimination, put money in the hands of ordinary people, and properly tax and restrain the economic and political power of big corporations and the super-rich.” Change depends on ordinary people, Phillips said. The myths of equal opportunity and rising tides have been busted, but the truth alone will not set us free. Left to itself, the rigged economy will continue to worsen inequality. Left to themselves, politicians will allow it, even enable it, to do so. Only pressure from below can secure a reversal of rising inequality. The good news is that, around the world, frustration is increasingly being channelled into a resurgence of organizing that has potential to shift the balance of power. Unions, community organizations, women’s groups, progressive faith based and social movements are standing up and standing together. This is the source of hope. This is our chance – if enough people join in. Inequality defines this moment, but need not be our fate,” declared Phillips. According to the Oxfam report, billionaires’ wealth has risen more since COVID-19 began than it has in the last 14 years. At $5 trillion dollars, this is the biggest surge in billionaire wealth since records began. A one-off 99 percent tax on the ten richest men’s pandemic windfalls, for example, could pay: to make enough vaccines for the world; to provide universal healthcare and social protection, fund climate adaptation, and reduce gender-based violence in over 80 countries, all this, while still leaving these men $8 billion better off than they were before the pandemic. “Billionaires have had a terrific pandemic. Central banks pumped trillions of dollars into financial markets to save the economy, yet much of that has ended up lining the pockets of
billionaires riding a stock market boom. Vaccines were meant to end this pandemic, yet rich governments allowed pharma billionaires and monopolies to cut off the supply to billions of people. The result is that every kind of inequality imaginable risks rising. The predictability of it is sickening. The consequences of it kill,” said Bucher. Extreme inequality is a form of economic violence, where policies and political decisions that perpetuate the wealth and power of a privileged few result in direct harm to the vast majority of ordinary people across the world and the planet itself. Oxfam recommends that governments urgently: • Claw back the gains made by billionaires by taxing this huge new wealth made since the start of the pandemic through permanent wealth and capital taxes. • Invest the trillions that could be raised by these taxes toward progressive spending on universal healthcare and social protection, climate change adaptation, and gender-based violence prevention and programming. • Tackle sexist and racist laws that discriminate against women and racialized people, and create new gender-equal laws to uproot violence and discrimination. All sectors of society must urgently define policies that will ensure women, racialized and other oppressed groups are represented in all decision-making spaces. • End laws that undermine the rights of workers to unionize and strike, and set up stronger legal standards to protect them. • And rich governments must immediately waive intellectual property rules over COVID-19 vaccine technologies, to allow more countries to produce safe and effective vaccines to usher in the end of the pandemic. Antonia Kirkland, global lead for Legal Equality & Access to Justice at Equality Now, told IPS the socio-economic fallout of COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted women, compounding pre-existing inequalities in the home and workplace. Women have been more likely to shoulder an even greater burden of responsibility for unpaid childcare and household chores, in comparison to men. “Women have lost paid work and had to take on more unpaid work, and of particular concern is how mothers have been pushed out of the workforce because of a lack of affordable childcare options. The expectations put on mothers in particular to take on the lion’s share of childcare and manage their children’s remote schooling forced many women to reduce their working hours, be furloughed, or drop out of the labour force altogether. Unequal pay because of gender discrimination means women in heterosexual family households have been more likely to leave employment if their spouse or partner brings in more income.” She said the unprecedented disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic should be seized upon as a catalyst for positive change, and business-recovery planning needs to prioritize attracting and retaining women within the workplace. This includes fostering flexible, inclusive working policies and practices, and supportive hiring and promotion processes that benefit women and families. “As this startling report – Inequality Kills – shows, income inequality and gender inequality are intimately linked. And to stop COVID-related inequality from killing women and other vulnerable people and instead put both gender and income equality first, States must get rid of all discriminatory laws. Sexist laws and gender stereotypes during the pandemic have perpetuated economic violence against women, and exacerbated physical domestic violence,” Kirkland declared.
Page 6
Combat - January-March, 2022
Kowsilla’s heroric sacrifice recalled
The 58th Death Anniversary of GAWU’s heroine Kowsilla was observed in the form of a wreathlaying and tribute exercise at her gravesite at the Anna Catherina cemetery on March 05, 2022. The activity was attended by nearly 80 persons comprising sugar workers, residents of the nearby community, and other interested persons. At the activity, wreaths were laid by representatives of GAWU, the People’s Progressive Party, the Women’s Progressive Organisation, the Guyana Rice Producers Association, the Region #3 Administration, the Uitvlugt GAWU Branch, and the GAWU’s Women Forum. Kowsilla, also known as Alice, was forty-four years old when she paid the supreme price for her convictions on that fateful Friday morning on March 6th 1964. Along with her fellow workers, she stood immovable, unheeding of the scab’s shouts as he continued to drive the tractor directly at them: “You-all ain’t hear what the Boss-man say? Get off the blasted bridge.” Before he ruthlessly ran them down. An eyewitness recalled Kowsilla telling the other women, “Don’t budge. We can’t let the rich man thief we children-them future,” before she fell, along with the others, scythed down in the prime of their lives like so much chaff by a murderous tool of evil men. Of the fourteen who were mown down by the tractor, receiving serious injuries, two of them, Jagdai and Daisee Sookram, suffered broken backs and were crippled for life. Another, Kisson Dai, lost one kidney
and had broken hips. The unyielding stance of these ordinary workers heralded a sea change and a new dynamic in the labour movement, and the results of their sacrifices are today being enjoyed by all workers in the nation. Several appropriate tributes were offered, as those who spoke reminded of the heroism of Kowsilla as she refused to be cowered by the threats emanating from the plantocracy. GAWU’s President, Seepaul Narine, retraced the incident which led up to the brutal killing of Kowsilla on that fateful day. He shared that the Kowsilla martyrdom was yet another reminder of the long and harsh struggles sugar workers waged to have a union of their choice. He noted that Kowsilla’s sacrifice, though, untimely reinvigorated the struggles of the sugar workers and their allies and brought social justice to the workers. Region #3 Chairman Ayube Inshan reminded that Kowsilla remained an eternal hero. He shared she remained an inspiration to all those who followed in her footsteps, and she bequeathed a rich legacy. Chairperson of the proceedings, Shelia Veersammy, expressed her pleasure to be associated with the activity, as she indicated the Kowsilla demonstrated the strength of women to advance struggles. For the period, the active involvement of women was a vivid reminder of the solidarity among Guyanese. She shared that such solidarity should be nurtured and consolidated as our country advances.
The Rose Hall Martyrs remain an inspiration to the working class The sugar industry has been the centre of several infamous battles which have been documented for posterity. Those incidents remind us of the wretched conditions and harsh measures imposed by the plantocracy on those who toiled on the plantations. The flashpoints tell us of the heroism, selflessness and sacrifice made by our ancestors to better our lives, and for which we should remain eternally grateful. One of these most infamous incidents occurred on March 13, 1913 at Rose Hall Estate. The plantation was in foment as workers struggled for betterment and resistance to inhuman living conditions which were an integral part of plantation life. On that occasion, their struggle ended in carnage when fifteen (15) workers were killed, including a woman who was shot in her stomach, and of them, forty-one (41) received serious injury. At the time, it was perhaps the deadliest indenture-era suppression of unrest in the Caribbean and elsewhere. The GAWU pays tribute to the Rose Hall Martyrs, who were massacred on March 13, 1913 as they confronted the oppression of the plan-
tocracy in then British Guiana. The fifteen (15) workers killed and their colleagues, had sought fairness and justness. The incident represented the worst post-slavery plantation massacre in history. The struggles of the Rose Hall martyrs today remain etched in our history, and is a reminder of the sordid past which has now given way to a better today. As we recall the heroism of the Rose Hall Martyrs, we are today reminded of yet other goals still to be attained by our working people. Today, exploitative employment practices among unorganized workers remain a troubling feature. We rem a i n d i s hear te n e d that a living wage s t i l l eludes us, and the improvem e n t of the national minimum wage remains unfulfilled. But we also celebrate the strength of the struggles of workers, which has brought steady improvement. Today, we go forward imbued to build a brighter tomorrow, one where in our people can realize their aspirations and where our country is prosperous for all Guyanese. Let the Rose Hall Martyrs remain a guiding light in our struggle for betterment and advancement.
Is Lincoln anti-union? The GAWU believes it must offer a response to some elements of Mr Lincoln Lewis’s letter appearing in the February 18, 2022, edition of the Stabroek News. At the outset, we must point out that we cannot speak for the Trade Union Recognition and Certification Board (TURCB), and will not address issues Mr Lewis raised in that regard. However, having digested Mr Lewis’s narrative, filled with his usual derisive and abrasive scorn, it is hard not to conclude, from all appearances, that the long-standing unionist has taken on an anti-union stance. We ask how else can one rationalize the denunciation of a genuine workers organisation drawing to attention the hardships faced and disrespect meted out to workers of our country? The GAWU is simply disheartened to see the low level Mr Lewis has descended to as he seeks to advance his divisive narrative that does not in any way help the workers of our country. It is, for us, a reckless attempt by someone who has announced himself to be steeped in the principles of trade unionism and the struggles of the working class.
The GAWU, nonetheless, is unbothered by the squeaks emanating from the erstwhile gentleman. Foremost, our Union’s allegiance has always remained with the workers of Guyana. This is a historical fact. We solemnly believe that workers’ rights must be respected and upheld. We do so without any fear, and no amount of crassness will deter us from our noble objective. Our Union, though disheartened, would urge Lincoln to join us and, in his own way, contribute rather than obstruct to advancement of workers’ rights. We believe our working class deserves no less, and we are confident that our efforts will bring dignity and decency to the workers of our country. Unlike Lincoln, we do not categorize unions and workers in binary terms. There is no time to place issues in silos, but rather seek the general advancement of the working-class. The GAWU will continue to play an active role. At this time, we are focused on our tasks of representing workers and advancing their lot, and can least be deterred by hollow accusations.
Combat - January-March, 2022
Page 7
GAWU observes 46 years as union of field and factory workers in sugar The GIWU was a victim of the political split at the national level in the 1950s, and later became defunct. The struggle, nevertheless, continued, and the GAWU was established in the early 1960s. Another inflection point was reached when Kowsilla, who was supporting a strike by the sugar workers at the Leonora Estate, was crushed to death. Kowsilla and others had lent their solidarity to striking workers. The strength of the workers’ actions, which were bolstered by solidarity from several quarters, must have angered the plantocracy. This may have motivated a foreign manager to instruct a scab to drive a tractor across the factory bridge where Kowsilla and others were standing. In the melee, Kowsilla was crushed, while several others were injured, some for life. Today, Kowsilla is regarded as a heroine of the sugar workers.
On February 27, 1976, the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) and the then Sugar Producers Association (SPA), the forerunner of the Guyana Sugar Corporation Inc (GuySuCo), appended the Recognition and the Avoidance and Settlement Agreement between the parties. The inking of the agreement cemented GAWU’s status as the bargaining agent on behalf of the field and factory workers in the sugar industry. It also culminated some three (3) decades of struggle for the GAWU to speak on the workers’ behalf. The struggle by workers to have GAWU as their union began in 1946 with the establishment of the Guiana Industrial Workers Union (GIWU). The establishment of the GIWU arose after workers became disillusioned with the Man Power Citizens Association (MPCA), which was
recognised a few years prior but had quickly lost credibility among the workforce. An early highpoint in the recognition struggle took place at Enmore, where a workers’ protest along the East Coast of Demerara over the imposition of the cut-and-load system grew and saw workers, among other things, demanding the recognition of the GIWU. That struggle was supported by the leaders of the GIWU and the Political Affairs Committee (PAC). Dr Cheddi Jagan and his wife played an active role in providing leadership and other tangible support to the workers. A fever pitch was reached on June 16, 1948 when five (5) workers were shot by the colonial police at the behest of the plantocracy. Those five (5) workers, who are nationally celebrated as the Enmore Martyrs, inspired a new wave of struggles that ultimately led to our country’s independence.
The struggle continued, and workers supportive of GAWU were at times harassed, intimidated, and even faced incarceration. This only steeled the workers’ resolve and they continued to press for the GAWU’s recognition. In 1975, two strikes by workers in the first and second crops saw the then Government and plantation owners agreeing to the conduct of a poll. The December 31, 1975 poll saw GAWU obtaining some 97% of the votes cast, confirming that the Union enjoyed the overwhelming support of the workers in the sugar industry. Since the inking of the Recognition Agreement, the GAWU has continued to advance the lot of the sugar workers. Several advances were recorded, and a number of benefits are now enjoyed by the workers. The active work of the Union has seen workers from other sectors joining the GAWU fold, and the Union speaks on behalf of workers in several important sectors at
this time. The Union remains firm in its defence of workers, and has sought to advance their well-being, not only at the bargaining table, but through advocacy of enhanced protections and adjustments to alleviate the cost of living. The Union also places a high premium on education, and from its own funds constructed the GAWU Labour College to advance its educational work. The Union contends that an educated worker is less likely to be exploited, as he/she will be knowledgeable of their rights. In more recent years, the GAWU was at the forefront of struggle against the minimization of the sugar industry. Our principled actions earned us the ire of the then Coalition Government, which sought to downsize the sugar industry without regard to the social implications. Our strong advocacy brought us several allies, who also spoke up on behalf of the sugar workers while earning the then Government a permanent place in the hall of infamy. The GAWU’s continued advocacy saw the new Government, immediately upon its assumption to office, beginning a process to re-open three (3) of the four (4) estates closed by its predecessor. This is currently an ongoing process and has rekindled hope among those who were thrown on the breadline mercilessly. As we observe forty-six (46) years of recognition, the GAWU remains proud of its work and achievements. Indeed, there is much to celebrate, but, at the same time, we are aware that there are those who seek to roll back workers’ gains and undermine their unity. At the same time, the Union is actively seeking to expand its reach, and is currently seeking to recruit more workers to its fold.
Ramjattan living in wonderland!
The GAWU has taken note of Mr Khemraj Ramjattan’s contribution to the 2022 Budget debate in respect of the sugar industry. According to media reports, Mr Ramjattan used the parliamentary platform to continue his jaundiced criticism
of the Gover nment’s suppor t to the industry. One report indicated that Mr Ramjattan had justified the Coalition’s miniaturization of the industry as he went on labelling State support as throwing monies into a black hole. It is unfortunate that Mr Ramjattan continues to operate apparently with blinkers. For the erst-
while gentleman, who hails from the Corentyne coast, where sugar is one of the predominant economic activities and makes a major contribution to that part of the country, it appears that Mr Ramjattan has clearly lost touch with reality, and lives seemingly in an ivory tower disconnected from the truth. So far, the Opposition MP, despite his huffing and puffing, cannot advance any plan to address any displacement brought about by the closure of estates. Certainly, one would have expected him and his colleagues to have developed such a plan when, like peacocks, they strutted down the corridors of power. Such plan, it appears, may have suffered a still birth, but yet Mr Ramjattan continues to bellyache.
Of course, the importance of the sugar industry has been re-emphasized by the socio-economic study conducted by the ILO. That report empirically detailed that hardships the were spawned when Mr Ramjattan and his colleagues heartlessly closed four (4) estates and placed 7,000 of our Guyanese brothers and sisters on the
breadline. It demonstrates that miserableness these Guyanese faced, and underscored the importance of the industry, not only to the workers, but entire communities. But Mr Ramjattan is unbothered by such facts, and chooses to live in his own wonderland. It seems Mr Ramjattan, rather than considering the contributions of the sugar industry and its potentials for viability, has doubled down on his caustic attitude towards sugar. We remain at a loss as to why anyone who holds themselves out as a leader would seek to advocate that our ordinary people be made jobless and forced into miserable lives. For us, it says a lot about the character of Mr Ramjattan and his colleagues, who spare no opportunity to denounce the Government’s support to the sugar industry. The GAWU, as the major voice of the workers in the industry, cannot allow such highly irresponsible statements to go without challenge. We remain strong in our position that sugar remains simply too important to fail.
GAWU wins respect for Budget 2022 is one for all seasons – FITUG oil and gas workers
The GAWU’s Oil and Gas Branch was recently contacted by the employees of a well-known and very popular recruitment agency in the sector. The workers who are assigned to the workshop of a foreign-owned oil and gas enterprise operating in Guyana informed our Union that their lawful workplace rights were not being upheld. The workers shared that the recruitment agency, in its contract of employment with the employees, required them to provide their own steel-toe safety boots. Such a requirement, however, is contrary to the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act. The law obligates employers to provide their employees with appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE). The recruitment agency, the Union understands, told some workers who did not have boots that same could be purchased by the agency. However, the cost would be recovered through deductions from their salaries. Again, this flies in the face of the OSH Act. After engaging the workers, the Union wrote the Ministry of Labour, drawing to its attention what was prevailing. The Ministry, we learnt, engaged the recruitment agency, and informed that it must be compliant with the Laws of Guyana. It is understood that the agency sought to offer feeble and unconvincing rationales for its contractual provisions. Of course, the Ministry underlined that the law must be upheld. The workers have since contacted the GAWU to inform that the agency told them they would now be provided with safety boots at no cost to them. Expectedly, they would receive same soon. They also shared with the Union that the principals of the agency informed them that they ought to have handled the matter differently, as the foreign client was upset. We, at this time, wonder how differently the matter could have
been handled when the agency had an explicit contractual provision. At the same time, we contend, the client had a responsibility to ensure that agent/s acting on their behalf were complaint with the Laws of Guyana. The issue of agency employment in the sector is contributing, in our view, to disrespect to the Guyanese workers. It is disappointing that a matter as straightforward as this had to require the involvement of the Ministry of Labour before it could have been resolved. Of course, our own review of contracts of employment issued by recruitment agencies have confirmed that many practices Guyanese workers, have become accustomed to are simply absent. We have seen in several contracts that workers though entitled to uncertified sick days, cannot benefit from such entitlement unless their employer is satisfied that they are indeed ill. In our view, the employer is basically having the power to tell an employee when they can be ill and when they are not. With the practice of agency employment, the question as to who really the employer is is up in the air, at this point, as those who give the employees direction are not the ones who employ them. The entire episode brings into focus the advice being provided by locals to foreign oil companies. We have to wonder whether these ‘professionals’ are really knowledgeable, or is it a case of them knowingly cheating and deceiving workers out of their rights. Certainly, whatever is the case, it is disturbing and disheartening. While we welcome the Ministry’s forthright intervention, at the same time, we recognize that not all workers have access to the Ministry, and there maybe some who are unaware that their rights are being violated and they are victims of exploitation at the workplace.
The Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG), having considered the 2022 Budget, recognizes it seeks to address every facet of national life in order to improve the well-being of the Guyanese people. The Federation sees the Budget as one that continues to expand the gains of the working-people as it alleviates some of the challenges they confront. The FITUG notes that the Government, through the Budget, has listened to the concerns of the ordinary people, and worked to develop a budget that places their concerns at the center. In this vein, we recognise the improvement in the income tax threshold that will improve workers’ disposable incomes. We note, too, the expansion of tax-free allowances to include life and medical insurance premiums. Apart from putting more monies in the hands of workers, the policy ensures that our workers and their families have better protection in difficult times. Additionally, we considered the decision to exempt withholding taxes on certain levels of interest payments. Clearly, this is a pro-poor initiative that ensures that our ordinary people can save and gain more. Apart from tax measures, there are several pro-people initiatives which the Federation welcomes. A significant boost was given to our school children, who will now receive $30,000 aggregately. Additionally, thousands of our children will benefit from the provision of tablets and flash drives, undoubtedly to close the chasm between the rich and the poor. An outstanding initiative of Budget 2022 is the provision of support to dialysis patients. The FITUG is aware that this life-saving treatment cannot be afforded by
everyone, and the State’s support will undoubtedly make a meaningful difference. We recognise from Budget 2022, the deliberate efforts to mitigate against international developments which have redounded to a higher cost-of-living. We laud the extension of the freight cost adjustment that seeks to levy taxes at pre-pandemic levels. The reduction in the excise tax on fuel will also be particularly impactful. We, at this time, urge businesses to pass down the savings accruing to customers, to ensure that the Government’s policies are truly impactful. The Federation also commends the decision to establish farmers’ markets. We believe the initiative will be a boon to both consumers and farmers, and cushion the prices in the cost of food. FITUG recognises that Budget 2022 is heavy on plans for tomorrow as well. It places special emphasis on infrastructure, to ensure that our country can respond to the growing demands of the future. The investments in housing are also welcome, and ensure that Guyanese dreams of home ownership become a reality. We noted, too, the significant investments in the social sectors, undoubtedly with the intention of making the lives of our people better. The Federation sees Budget 2022 as one for all seasons. We believe that everyone will benefit from the Budget, and our country will grow stronger as we are poised to reach previously unimaginable heights. Our review of the Budget confirms that our future is indeed bright and our people will be able to live the life they truly deserve. The FITUG commends Budget 2022.
Combat is a publication of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) 59 High Street and Wights Lane, Kingston, Georgetown, Guyana Tel: (592) 227-2091/2, 225-5321, 223-6523 Email: info@gawugy.com Website: www.gawugy.com