In his presentation, I wish to provide an overview of the labour movement in Guyana. I propose to first of all look at the conditions that led to the emergence, growth and development of organized labour in the country and how these processes helped to shape and influence the nature and course of politics. An attempt will also be made to show that the emergence of radical political leaders and parties were influenced by the socio-economic conditions that obtained in the country.

The main thesis of this presentation is that the emergence of organized labour is closely related to the intense poverty, which prevailed during that period. This was so not only for Guyana but also for the entire Commonwealth Caribbean. Permit me to quote from a statement by Mr. James Griffith, a former Colonial Secretary in the late 1940’s.

“I do not believe that anybody who has not seen it with his own eyes can begin to imagine the poverty in which so many of our fellow citizens of the Commonwealth are condemned to live.”

Similar sentiments were expressed by Professor Mac Millian who in his book “ Warning from the West Indies wrote “ Any social and economic study of the West Indies is necessarily a study of poverty.” And Paul Blanchard, a former US State Department Official in his book Democracy and Empire in the Caribbean wrote:

“The labouring population of almost the whole area lives at a level below human decency. The outward signs of poverty- ragged clothing, bare feet, children with bloated bellies, shacks made of flattened cans and the lines of unemployed workers waiting at closed gates.”

It is against such a background that the rise in working class consciousness and the emergence of working leaders have to be situated.

According to Dr. Jagan in his book “Forbidden Freedom”, it was in 1922 that the first trade union in any colonial country of the British Empire was formed- the British Guiana Labour Union. This was followed in 1931 by the British Guiana Workers League. By 1939, there were ten trade union organizations. The sugar workers were organized in the British Guiana Workers League and the Manpower Citizen’s Association. The British Guiana Labour Union had a sizeable membership among the dockworkers. In 1941, the British Guiana Trades Union Council was formed, affiliating the various trade unions.

The employers at first refused to recognize the MPCA but the growing militancy of the workers forced them to concede. The policy of the planters was to divide the workers along race and occupational lines. The Workers League, for instance, was recognized as the bargaining agent for the factory workers who were predominantly Africans. The MPCA was recognized as the bargaining agent for the field workers who were predominantly East Indians.

It was not until 1948 that the first mass based union was formed, the Guiana Industrial Workers Union, now GAWU. Despite its large membership, the planters refused to recognize the Union in preference to the MPCA which by then was beginning to lose its militancy.

It soon became obvious that the workers movement lacked political clout. The sugar planters and other vested interests exercised effective political power. Throughout the whole of the 19th century and early part of the 20th century there was a virtual planters oligarchy. The franchise was severely limited. In 1910 only 11000 of a population of over 300,000 was allowed the right to vote. The franchise was exercised mainly by the whites and the mixed coloureds. Indians and Africans were denied any say in the political say of the country.

The beginning of the 1940’s can be regarded as the period when the fusion between the industrial and the political became increasingly crystallized. This was due in no small measure to the return to the colony of Dr. Cheddi Jagan and his wife Janet, both of whom were leading figures in the formation of the Public Affairs Committee and a few years later, the People’s Progressive Party. The PAC soon became a bugbear of the planters who attempted to ban the organization.

In 1947, elections were held for the first time under a new constitution. Dr. Jagan won the constituency he contested allowing for the first time a genuine working class voice within the corridors of power. However, the power of the plantocracy remained formidable. So powerful were they that the Governor to the Legislative Council, although defeated at the 1947 election nominated the head of the sugar plantocracy. Dr. Jagan soon learnt that there was need for a mass political organization capable of bringing together all the progressive elements into a single party which would not pursue a racial line but would instead fight on class lines. The shooting to death of the sugar workers in 1948 by the colonial police proved as it were, to the last straw. Dr. Jagan who led the funeral procession had this to say on the event.

“The Enmore tragedy affected me greatly. I was personally acquainted with all the young men killed and injured. The funeral procession which was led by my wife, other leaders and myself to the city some 16 miles away became a tremendous mass protest demonstration. At the graveside the emotional outbursts of the of the widows and relatives of the deceased had been intensely distressing, and I could with difficulty restrain my tears. There was to be no turning back. There and then I made a silent pledge. I would dedicate my entire life to the cause of the struggle of the Guyanese people against bondage and exploitation.”

And so was born the People’s Progressive Party in January 1950.

The formation of the PPP shifted in a decisive way the political landscape of this country. One of the first act of the new government was to empower the workers by allowing for unions with majority support to enjoy bargaining rights. This, as Dr. Jagan pointed out in his West on Trial touched “King Sugar” The PPP was accused of trying to “ crush established trade unions which in effect meant the much favoured MPCA which as mentioned earlier had by then been muzzled into a company union.

The proposed passage of the Labour Relations Bill was not intended as the planters projected, to recognize the Guyana Industrial Workers Union but to allow for the union with majority support to be given the right to represent the workers. Actually, the rival union in the industry would have had to secure 65% of the votes in order to win bargaining rights. This ought not to have posed any problem for the MPCA nor the planters both of whom claimed majority support for the MPCA.

All things being equal, the pro-working class orientation of the PPP should not have posed any problem for the labour movement. But political and ethnic considerations seemed to have override class interests. The labour movement, with the exception of the GAWU and a few others have to a great extent been influenced by reactionary thinking to an extent where genuine working class interests were severely compromised. The Labour Movement for example was instrumental in destabilization attempts against the democratically elected government of the PPP in the early 1960’s. Incidentally, it took the GAWU from 1948 to 1976 to get recognition and that poll in December 1975 came about because of 13 weeks strike in the sugar industry which could have been avoided. GAWU got 98% of the votes in a secret poll.

The removal of the PPP from office in 1964 saw a progressive emasculation of the labour movement including the umbrella body, the TUC. Working and living conditions deteriorated steadily to a point where, to use the words of the late Joseph Pollydore, General Secretary of the TUC “workers were catching hell”. The politicization of the labour movement under the doctrine of Party paramountcy made the TUC and its affiliated unions, with the exception of GAWU and NAACIE a “toothless poodle”.

Faced with a situation of declining living standards and a uncaring and ruthless administration, a number of unions, including the GAWU, CCWU, NAACIE and Bauxite Unions joined together in what was called FITUG, the Federation of Independent Trade Unions in Guyana. This proved to be an enormous pressure group and played an important role in the democratization process which eventually resulted in the removal of the PNC from office in October 1992.

One of the first tasks of the new working class government was to restore real wages, (as distinct from money wages) and to reign in the monster of inflation, which was running as high as 100% under the PNC. The PPP was able to curb inflation to single digits and to give substantial increases over and above the rate of inflation. This means an improvement in the standard of life.

These increases notwithstanding, there are those who are attempting to put pressure on the current administration by making unrealistic salary demands. Take the current salary impasse with the GTU. These people are demanding their pound of flesh regardless of whether the country can afford to meet the cost or not. Like Shylock they are demanding their pound of flesh. It matters little to them that the country has inherited a collapsing infrastructure, a high debt burden which eats up roughly half of the foreign exchange earnings.

The PPP is a working class party. It seeks to establish a genuine partnership between labour and capital and between workers and management. Workers not only have muscle power. They have brainpower as well which must be fully harnessed if the factors of production are to be optimized.

Conclusion

The labour movement has come a long way over the five decades or so thanks to the struggle waged by the People’s Progressive Party. Workers today enjoy much greater rights and freedoms today than in the past.