GUYANA | Guyana Trades Union Body Slams Government Self Serving Salary Hikes

GEORGETOWN,  Guyana, December 20, 2024 - The Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) has launched a scathing attack on the PPP/C government's decision to award themselves successive salary increases, labeling it a betrayal of campaign promises and public trust.

In a strongly-worded statement released by the Geneal Secretary of  the GTUC, Lincoln Lewis, the union  highlighted how the current administration, which had previously condemned their predecessors' one-time 50 percent ministerial increase in 2015, has now accumulated a total of 31.5 percent in raises over just four years.

"The PPP/C government's actions reveal a troubling pattern of duplicity," the statement noted, detailing increases of 7% in 2021, 8% in 2022, 6.5% in 2023, and a proposed 10% for 2024, with an additional 8% planned for 2025. The GTUC emphasized that each percentage increase was calculated on an already elevated base salary.

The union body drew particular attention to the widening economic disparity between government officials and ordinary citizens. According to the GTUC, while the president and ministers enjoy steady pay rises, the average Guyanese worker faces mounting economic challenges with wages failing to match the rising cost of living.

Of particular concern to the GTUC is the timing of these increases, coming as they do during Guyana's oil boom. The union argues that despite the country's newfound resource wealth, ordinary citizens are worse off than they were in 2019, before oil production began.

The statement also raised alarms about the government's handling of the cooperative sector, worth approximately 30 percent of Guyana's economy. The GTUC claims the Ministry of Labour has halted the registration of new cooperatives and is moving to take over administration of several existing ones that control significant land and financial assets.

This intervention in the cooperative sector, according to the GTUC, particularly threatens the economic independence of small-scale entrepreneurs and community organizations. The union drew parallels to previous governmental actions, including the controversial dismantling of the Bauxite Workers Pension Plan, which had represented over $2.5 billion in workers' assets.

The GTUC has called for immediate action on several fronts, including the elimination of Pay As You Earn (PAYE) tax, activation of unemployment benefits under the National Insurance Scheme, and measures to reduce the cost of living. The union emphasized that such steps are crucial given Guyana's new oil wealth and the continuing struggle of ordinary citizens to make ends meet.

The GTUC's statement also took aim at the government's proposed Acquisition of Land for Public Purpose (Amendment) Bill, warning of its potential impact on inherited and ancestral lands.

"This legislation, in its current form, poses a direct threat to citizens' rights to ancestral land ownership," the GTUC warned, calling for a pause in the bill's progression to allow for comprehensive public consultation. The union expressed particular concern for both African-Guyanese and Amerindian communities' land rights.

Adding to these concerns, the GTUC reported allegations of missing documentation from land ledgers, particularly in Berbice and Demerara regions. These disappearances, the union claims, could potentially disenfranchise legitimate landowners of their inherited properties. The union has demanded that the government implement robust systems to protect all land-related documentation, spanning from post-slavery to present times.

"We see this Bill as potentially facilitating the largest land grab in post-independent Guyana," the GTUC stated, citing the controversial Cane View/Mocha Arcadia situation as an example of how acquired lands can end up in private ownership. The union also highlighted concerns about unauthorized resource extraction on Amerindian lands by non-residents.

The statement concluded with a call to action, urging Guyanese with ancestral land claims to "use all legal, political and spiritual means" to secure their property rights. The GTUC also called on opposition parties to support efforts to preserve and properly manage all documentation related to land distribution and ownership, emphasizing land's crucial role as a foundation of wealth for many communities.

"In an oil-rich nation where benefits appear increasingly concentrated among a select few, there must be legitimate avenues for economic relief for ordinary citizens," the statement concluded, underlining the urgent need for governmental accountability in land management and economic policy.

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