CombatIssue#:6 Volume#: 33 Voice of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) November/December 2012

COMBAT: November/December, 2012 Page One

GAWU’s Christmas Message 2012

The all-pervasive Festival of Christmas, with all its reflection and celebration, is with us swiftly again. Rooted in the biblical prophecies and fulfillment of the Christian Faith, Christmas offers us numer-ous images and traditions. Indeed, many of the or-igins of the latter had nothing to do with the early Believers welcoming the Baby from Bethlehem as one of the bases of their Faith. However, the real reason for the season triumphs over all the com-merce and manipulation of the wondrous Hope of Christmas. With those reflections, GAWU joins Guyanese Christians as their community observes this joy-ous occasion on their calendar. For it is difficult to escape the various elements and facets of the fes-tival. Most Guyanese groups and households vol-untarily participate because, like Easter, Mashram-ani, Phagwah or Diwali, all Guyanese take notice of Christmas. It comes a few days before our calendar year ends. We, therefore, take the opportunity to refresh the spirit and refurbish our homes and sur-roundings, however haughty or humble. That is the spirit promoted in all of us who yearn for the hope and potential embodied in the Christ Child, according to Christian belief. His own Birth, was reportedly the most humble there could be. Then there was persecution and flight from his homeland, until circumstances changed in his country. So familiar are those themes in our modern times that, right now, we Guyanese are as resilient as saying “hope springs eternal in the human breast”.

This is the season to be “jolly”, they say. We still yearn for peace and good-will to all mankind, wher-ever they are. GAWU wishes Guyana well, at this time when the national/public holi-days can be used for both merriment and reflection. GAWU hopes that the har-mony which abounds at this time can inspire both leaders and citizens to car-ry that peaceful, produc-tive co-existence into the New Year of 2013.Merry Christmas and Hopeful, Happy New Year 2013.

Masquerade bands, such as the one pictured above, are usually found frolicking through the streets of Georgetown and other areas during the Christmas Season

Get well, President Chavez The Guyana Agricul-tural and General Work-ers Union (GAWU) sends its urgent best wishes to you, Your Excellency, popular President of the Bolivarian Repub-lic of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez. Because you are the heroic leader of our Western neighbour and the populist inheritor of the legacy of Simon Bo-

livar, we know that your work for all the people of Venezuela is not at all over. You stand out at one of the greatest working people leaders of our time. The expertise and medical technology of our frater-nal comrades, the Cubans, along with the prayers of the continent’s millions, will go a long way in as-sisting you, dear Excellency, to heal. Your recuperation, however slow, must be sure. GAWU expresses the solidarity of thousands of Guyanese workers who join with Venezuelan ma-jorities in wishing Your Excellency a speedy and complete recovery. As we stated earlier herein: your passionate, sin-gle-minded purpose to lift your people to the pin-nacle of national success is still a work in progress. GAWU looks forward to your continued steward-ship when the best of health returns.

Editorial | Editorial | Editorial | Editorial

As the year ends... A future of Hope or Uncertainty Besides the Christian Festival of Christmas, as celebrated in our Guyana, December signals the end of another calendar year.

Another twelve-month period which begs for review, assessment and even cautious predic-tions as to our people’s collective future. What, in this now ending year, was and is there to pre-pare us for the advent and reality of 2013.

On behalf of GAWU, Guyana’s singular largest workers’ trade union and bargaining agent, un-ion, industrial and national events are viewed through the prism of workers’ perspective. All the constitutional, political, economic and socio-cultural happenings are analysed in terms of peoples’, especially workers’, welfare. What is the year-end Balance Sheet?

It would be fair to conclude that politics and economics dominated national life in 2012. From the beginning of the Tenth Parliament, wherein the National Assembly is voted with an Opposition one-seat majority, there has been turmoil where peaceful, productive co-exist-ence and parliamentary harmony were needed. GAWU and the nation’s labour class watched on as the Opposition enacted Budget cuts for fiscal year 2012; as numerous court challenges were mounted against the Opposition positions in the Assembly; and, as the year ends, there is still no resolution or determination as the legislative/ju-dicial tussles are arbitrated.

As the second half of 2012 witnessed distur-bances with deaths at Linden; fiery protests at Agricola; disturbing escalations of criminal and domestic violence in too many communities, Guyanese wondered at the negativity which at-tracted – and wasted – millions and millions in scarce finance, as properties were burnt, Com-missions of Inquiry mounted, and discontent was prominent.

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COMBAT: November/December, 2012 Page Two

Essequibo - the birthplace of the Sugar Industry Sugar cane was introduced to the New World with the arrival of Colum-bus. This crop has, in no small meas-ure, been responsible for the patterns of the social and industrial develop-ments that have emerged in the Carib-bean and Latin America. In Guyana, it was on the banks of the Essequibo River that the sugar in-dustry was born. The beginning was influenced by a number of factors, including trading enterprises, safety precautions, and tidal considerations. It was not until much later that the Dutch discovered the fertility of the coastal lands. In its genesis, therefore, the sugar cane was at first an up-river cultivated crop. Early settlements from which sugar was produced sprung up along the banks of the Essequibo River. In 1609, it is said, James Harcourt recognised the suitability of Guyana’s soil for cane cultivation. However, it was not until 1658 that serious cultivation of the crop began

in the Pomeroon. By the early 1660s sugar cane was being cultivated in the neighbourhood of Kyk-over-al, in the Mourca River District. Later, there were to be thriving sugar plantations at Hampton Court, with its four separate estates. There was Wal-ton Hall, Devonshire Castle, Hampton Court and Windsor Castle. Then there was La Belle Alliance, Reliance, Henri-etta, Mainstay, Land of Plenty, Aber-deen, Affiance and Aurora. Then there were sugar estates on the Essequibo Islands. On Wakenaam and Hog Island, there was Caledonia, Zee-landia, Meer Zorg and Maria’s Pleas-ure. On Leguan, there was Enterprise, Henrietta, Success, Maryville and Blen-heim. So, while the sugar cane crop started on the banks of the Essequibo, it later moved to the Demerara coast and Ber-bice, where it withstood the winds of change - technological advances - to remain, up to this time, an economic force in the nation.

BEV workers to share $10 million in bonuses On December 03, 2012, the Guy-ana Agricultural and General Work-ers Union and BEV Processors Inc agreed to the payment of ten mil-lion dollars ($10m) as year-end bo-nuses to the Company’s 294 union-ized employees. This year’s bonus is greater than the Company’s bonus in 2011. Apart from the bonus, each employee would separately be pro-vided with a sum of three thousand dollars ($3,000) for the purchase of

a hamper.

The Company’s Managing Direc-tor and the Union agreed that the Christmas season necessitated some bonus payments to all em-ployees, as was done in the past years. The employees were con-sulted on the sum of the bonus, and they expressed their support and appreciation to the Union on its achievement of same.

Improvement in pay and benefits for Berbice Bridge employees

- two-year wage/salary agreement inked On November 26, 2012, the Guy-ana Agricultural and General Work-ers Union (GAWU) and the Berbice Bridge Company Inc (BBCI) signed a two (2)-year wage/salary agreement whereby the Company’s 37-member workforce, through amendments to the Collective Labour Agreement, would receive as follows:-

1. An increase in wages/salaries by 6 per cent for year 2012, and a like percentage increase for year 2013

2. Increases in meals allowances from $500 to $560

3. Increases in standby allowance from $200 to $225

4. Payment of a night premium of $180

Separately, the Company, taking into account the Union’s call, has intro-duced a Group Life Insurance Scheme

and a Medical Scheme requiring no contributions from the employees. The Union now awaits the Manage-ment’s decision to establish a Pen-sion Scheme for the employees.

The Union, in approving the two-year Agreement, insisted on the inclusion of an inflation clause re-quiring the Company to approve an increase in excess of six (6) per cent for next year in event that the infla-tion rate for 2013 rises above five (5) per cent. Over the last three (3) years (2009 – 2011), the inflation rate in Guyana has averaged about 4 per cent.

BBCI is a private investment Com-pany charged with managing the op-erations of the Berbice Bridge, which spans from D’Edward, West Coast Berbice to Palmyra Village, Coren-tyne, a distance of 1.57 kilometres.

DTL workers receive wage/salary hike The seventy-four (74)-person work-force at the Demerara Timbers Limit-ed (DTL) has benefitted from a rise in pay arising out of representation by the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU).

The new rates of pay applicable to sawmill operators are as follows:-

1. Labourers from $1,000 per day to $2,000 per day

2. Skilled Workers from $1,200 per day to $2,500 per day

3. Heading (Band Mill) operator from $1,500 per day to $3,000 per day

The rates applicable to Timber Grant employees are as follows:-

1. Labourers from $1,100 per day to $2,000 per day

2. Skilled Workers from $1,200 per day to $2,500 per day

3. Tractor Operators: Heavy Duty (Track Machine) Operators from $1,300 per day to $3,000 per day, and Wheel Type Operators from

$1,200 per day to $2,500 per day The increases range from 16.9 per cent to 67.4 per cent, and are basical-ly in keeping with the new statutory rates set out for sawmill and timber grant workers, retroactively approved by the Minister of Labour with effect from June 01, 2012.

The Union and the Company are yet to conclude a settlement on meals al-lowance, night premium and station allowance.

Demerara Timbers Limited (DTL) is owned by the Prime Group, which is based in Singapore. The Company enjoys forest concessions from the state at Mabura Hill in Region 10 and Siparuni in Region 2. The Company’s workforce is based at Mabura, where the Company houses its workers and provides them with potable water and electricity. There, at Mabura, the Company operates a sawmill which produces from logs, construction ma-terials for export. It also exports logs.

Noble House employees to benefit from $8.7m in bonus The approximate 240-person work-force at Noble House Seafoods Lim-ited (NHSL) benefitted from a year-end bonus totalling $8.7m arising out of an agreement reached on December 17, 2012 between the Company and the Guyana Agricul-tural and General Workers Union (GAWU).

Through the agreement reached,

the average bonus per worker is about $36,000, which is almost $6,000 higher than the quantum received by the average employee last year (2011).

The Company’s workers were look-ing forward to obtaining a year-end bonus, and they are indeed pleased with the payment they have re-ceived.

COMBAT: November/December, 2012 Page Three

FITUG 4th Conference concludes successfully

The Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) concluded its 4th Conference on November 07, 2012 with the full participation of its affiliates – the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), the Guyana Labour Union (GLU), the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employ-ees (NAACIE), and the Clerical and Commercial Workers Union (CCWU).

The Opening Session, which was chaired by FITUG’s First Vice Presi-dent Cde Komal Chand, was attended by eighty (80) delegates representing the affiliated unions: a number of special invitees, including prominent Ministers of Government; mem-bers of the Diplomatic Corps; repre-sentatives of business organizations and other distinguished invitees. A six (6)-person delegation from the Amalgamated Transport and Gen-eral Workers Union (AT&GWU) also graced the Opening Session.

Cde Chand, in his welcoming re-marks, drew the attention of del-egates to the economic crisis in the world arising from austerity and pain-ful measures which are imposed on the people, and the dire effects the measures are having on the workers, students, pensioners and others. He said, however, that there is a sharp-ening of the struggles, and the fight-back by the workers will undoubtedly force a reversal of the harsh meas-ures.

Live messages were read by the General Secretary of the Guyana

Teachers Union (GTU), Coretta Mc-Donald, and by the Education Officer of the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU), Vera Norton. Cde Leroy Trot-man, General Secretary of the Barba-dos Workers Union (BWU), also at-tended the historic Conference.

The President of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, His Excellency President Donald Ramotar, delivered the Conference’s feature address and declared the Conference open. In his address, among other things, he in-vited the Trade Union movement to dialogue with him from time to time on labour matters, so as to assist him and his Government to ensure there is always a realistic labour perspec-tive in existence, and which his Gov-ernment will uphold. His address was described as insightful and labour-friendly.

FITUG’s General Secretary, Cde Ken-neth Joseph, reviewed the Organi-sation’s work from the conclusion of its last Conference in July, 2010 to the present time. Delegates from different unions made a number of contributions to the General Sec-retary’s Report. Suggestions were made by delegates about issues and matters which should receive public commentary from time to time. Del-egates requested that the leadership of FITUG should encourage other Un-ions to become its affiliates, and they were pleased with the presence of three (3) non-affiliated Trade Unions at the Opening Session of the Confer-ence.

Anoth-er im-portant f e a -ture of FITUG’s Confer-e n c e was the e l e c -t i o n of the Federa-t i o n ’ s o f f i -c i a l s , w h o a l o n g w i t h n i n e

(9) other mem-bers constitute the FITUG Execu-tive Council. Those elected were as fol-lows:- Cdes Carvil Duncan, President; Komal Chand, First Vice President; Sherwood Clarke, Second Vice Presi-dent; Kenneth Joseph, General Secretary; Seep-aul Narine, Treasurer; Derek Thakur, Organising Secretary; Aslim Singh, Education Secretary; and Commit-tee Members: Narda Mohamed, Elmy Ishmael, Jagdeo Paul, Bhagmat Hochand, Savitri Thomas, Michael Stephens, Winston Joseph, Floyd Thompson and Althea Lindo.

The Conference also unanimously approved resolutions on Local Gov-ernment Elections, on Tax Reform, on Hire Purchase Legislation, on Public Transport, on the National Insurance Scheme (NIS), on National Minimum Wage, and on Climate Change and Environment.

The Conference concluded with the Charge being delivered by Cde Ashton Chase, S.C., O.E. Cde Chase, in his remarks, reminded delegates of the history of trade unionism in Guyana, and the development of the field over the years. He said that while a trade union’s foremost con-cern is related to wages and salaries, all unions must be concerned with

what is happening in the country and society, and that the right to protest and assemble must be done within its limitations, and not to obstruct and destroy. He also made reference to the development taking place across the country, and the need to protect and enhance those gains. He warned delegates not to follow those who seek to misguide them, as it would serve to reverse the develop-ment which has taken place over the recent years.

While the Conference was deliberat-ing, FITUG received a letter from the Caribbean Congress of Labour (CCL), which said in part: “Please be respect-fully advised that the General Council of the CCL, meeting in Barbados on the 5th and 6th of October, 2012, unanimously accepted FITUG’s ap-plication for affiliation…”. The letter was signed by the General Secretary of the CCL, Cde Chester Humphrey. It follows that the GTUC’s affiliation to the august body was rescinded in or-der for FITUG’s affiliation to become a reality.

Delegates and Observers attending the Conference

President Donald Ramotar delivering the Feature Address to the Con-ference

COMBAT: November/December, 2012 Page Four

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

Yes to Democracy, No to Foreign Intervention! We, the undersigned, who are part of an international civil society increasingly worried about the awful blood-shed of the Syrian people, are supporting a political initiative based on the results of a fact-finding mission which some of our colleagues undertook to Beirut and Damascus in September 2012. This initiative consists in calling for a delegation of high-ranking personalities with international public lives to go to Syria in order to discuss the current situation with the main political actors, and to pave the way for a negotiated political solution of the armed conflict in Syria, which seriously threatens world peace and the existence of Syria as an independent and sovereign nation. In this perspective, we fully support the following dec-laration: All eyes are presently on the unfolding war in Syria that is drowning its people in blood. We are highly con-cerned, and not only because the conflict has been ac-quiring a dangerous geo-political dimension. The legiti-mate and, at the beginning, also peaceful movement of the Syrian people -- along with their Arab brothers -- for democratic rights is also in danger of being con-verted into a sectarian civil war with massive regional and international involvement. We are conscious that no side can win such a war of attrition in the near future whilst the Syrian and Arab people’s resistance against Western and Israeli pre-dominance as well as the regional dictatorships is being threatened, and could eventually even be destroyed. In order to save these achievements and to continue the struggle for democracy, social justice and self-de-termination of the people, a political solution of the conflict by means of a negotiated settlement is indis-pensable. Only in this way can religious sectarianism be curbed, foreign intervention averted, and the demo-

cratic mass movement prevail. We therefore take action in support of a political solu-tion to end the bloodshed with the following criteria:1. We fully support the beginning of a political pro-

cess which should start by negotiations and a cease fire. This should go hand in hand with a process of de-escalation and de-militarisation that allows the Syrian people to receive the help they urgently need, and express their will peacefully and eventu-ally at the ballot boxes.

2. Since any solution must be based on the sovereign will of the Syrian people, we reject categorically any kind of military intervention, wherever it may come from.

3. To respect the sovereign right to self-determination means respecting the democratic and social rights of the vast majority of the people. Therefore, no major political force should be excluded a priori. A sustainable, peaceful settlement must be based on a constitutional process which allows free elections organised by a transitional government as a result of negotiations.

4. Since the conflict has seen a growing instrumen-talisation of sectarian affiliations, which hampers the political unification of the people based on democracy, we support all initiatives and tenden-cies among the existing political and military forces which are promoting inter-confessional tolerance on the base of the same rights for all citizens.

By signing this declaration, we give our full support to the international delegation heading for Syria in the be-ginning of 2013, and are hoping that this initiative will make a significant contribution to peace in the area.Signed by:-1. Gianni Vattimo, Philosopher - Italy

2. Hans von Sponeck. Retired UN diplomat, university professor - Germany

3. Ernesto Cardenal, Poet, Sandinista politician and theologian of liberation - Nicaragua

4. Mairead Maguire, Peace Nobel Price Laureate - Northern Ireland

5. Norman Paech, Professor for Int’l Law, University Hamburg, MP for the “Linke” - Germany

6. Margherita Hack, Astro-physicist - Italy7. Manolis Glezos, Resistance Fighter against Nazi oc-

cupation - Greece8. Annette Groth, MP for the “Linke” - Germany9. Samir Amin, Economist, director of the Third World

Forum - Senegal10. Father Alex Zanotelli, Catholic priest - Italy11. Francois Houtart, Sociologist of religion and co-

founder of the World Social Forum - Belgium12. Gretta Duisenberg, Free Gaza Movement, Stop the

Occupation - Netherlands13. Paul Larudee, Free Gaza Movement, Free Palestine

Movement, Global March to Jerusalem - USA14. Eren Keskin, Human rights activist and lawyer - Tur-

key15. Niema Movassat, MP for the “Linke” - Germany16. Gilberto López y Rivas, Social anthropologist - Mex-

ico17. Carlos Varea González. CEOSI, www.iraqsolidari-

dad.org - Spain18. Leo Gabriel. Social anthropologist, journalist, mem-

ber of the Executive Committee of the World Social Forum - Austria

19. Vangelis Pissias, Professor in International Econom-ic Affairs, leading organiser of Gaza Freedom flotil-las - Greece

The power of example - a conversation with labour leader Joe BurnsBy Joe Burns and Matthew Cunningham-Cook Many, if not most, in the labour movement were deeply disappointed with the results of the Wisconsin uprising, from which the anti-labour establishment has emerged almost entirely victorious. A few months after the uprising began, Joe Burns, a labour lawyer and former union president, published Re-viving the Strike: How Working People Can Regain Power and Transform America, to critical acclaim. In the wake of that strug-gle, in which strike tactics were shied away from, the book argues that the only way to reverse four decades of labour’s decline is by bringing back the militant tactics that built the labor movement to begin with — nota-bly, industry-wide strikes with disregard for unjust labour laws. As Waging Nonviolence’s new “Wildcat Winter” series indicates, we seem to be at the precipice of a revival like the one Burns called for. Chicago teachers struck in Septem-ber, followed by nearly half a dozen teachers’ strikes in suburban Chicago, the Walmart strikes up and down the supply chain, the just-settled longshore clerks’ strike on the West Coast, and now the striking fast food workers in New York City. I talked with Joe to hear from him on this ongoing Wildcat Winter. In the past few months, we seem to have seen an upsurge in successful strikes. What

is the significance of this? Clearly we’ve seen a change in the past couple of months in terms of strike activity increasing. In labour history, workers tend to strike in waves, because the power of exam-ple leads other workers to strike. First, with public employees and teachers, the Chicago Teachers Union went on strike. They had overall a very successful outcome. So other teachers unions have decided to strike. Sec-ond, you’ve seen other places where work-ers are striking to defend themselves, with very aggressive employers demanding con-cessions. In California, the ILWU is using a strike to defend decades of gains made by workers. The third thing — and this is a real shift — is the use of the strike as an organ-izing tool. That’s a big change over what has been happening over the past couple of dec-ades. Fast food and Walmart workers are us-ing the strike as both a tool of organizing and demanding improvements from employers. In the past, new union organizing has been seen as slowly building on one-on-one dis-cussions, and this is really different because, if you look at the history, when we’ve made real gains, it’s been when we’ve shifted to a strike-based model. How do you think the wave can be expand-ed? It’s going to have to be expanded, but it’s going to be difficult because the rules of the game are so tilted in favour of employers.

Employers have a lot of advantages under the system of labour law. What organizers will run up against is that we’re going to have to directly confront what I call the system of labour control — the set of labour laws that have been put into place to make it difficult to win strikes. For now ,organizers have been embracing this tactic. To take a historical example: In the 1960s, millions of public workers joined trade un-ions, and they did it through strikes. Start-ing with the New York teachers, we saw this incredible strike wave, and that’s really how public workers won their unions. This was the power of example, unions refusing to obey unjust labor laws, and it was a grass-roots rebellion. And, as I discuss in Reviving the Strike, it was a very similar pattern in the 1930s. Many of these recent strikes, especially with the fast food and Walmart workers, occurred among what many theorists of la-bour have labelled the “precariat” — that is, people doing types of work that tend to have low job security and high turnover, and which are often part-time and subcon-tracted. For many years, unions avoided or-ganizing these kinds of workers due to the difficulties of organizing such a disparate workforce. How do you see victories as pos-sible with these new tactics? A couple points. One is that, in a lot of in-dustries in the 1930s, the organizational

work was very precarious, and it became one of the main demands of the unions to make jobs permanent, with job security, and full-time employment. This was something they were able to change through struggle. If you look at longshore workers in the 1930s, you had to be called for work. Auto work was very intermittent and high-turnover. Trucking was the same thing. What unions did is they disregarded the rules that employers had set up, and as a result made major gains. For the Teamsters, it was a question of whether you had a union card, not whether you were an employee or contractor. That’s the key part of it — it could be changed. If you jump forward to today, the same thing holds true. Employers are able to use their advantages under labour law to struc-ture work in a particular fashion, and it’s the responsibility of unions to fight against this. Could I sum that up like this: Unions need to organize work, not employees? The Justice for Janitors campaign is the best example of this. SEIU confronted an industry that had subcontracting, and if you started to organize, they would just hire another con-tractor. But they took the entire industry on — and that’s what you see with groups like warehouse workers and more geographic organizing of the restaurant workers in New York City — rather than the traditional shop-by-shop organizing that has been foisted Continued on page five

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When mainstream economists discover Karl Marx

By Ann Robertson and Bill Leumer

In his recent New York Times op-ed piece, Princeton professor and regular columnist for The New York Times Paul Krugman observed:

“The American economy is still, by most measures, deeply de-pressed. But corporate profits are at record high. It’s simple: profits have surged as a share of national income, while wages and other labour compensation are down. The pie isn’t growing the way it should – but capital is doing fine by grabbing an ever-larger slice, at labour’s expense.”

And then he added with almost shocked incredulity: “Wait – are we really back to talking about capital versus labour? Isn’t that an old-fashioned, almost Marx-ist sort of discussion, out of date in our modern information economy?” This is exactly the conflict that Marx identified as the fundamental, inescapa-ble contradiction of the capitalist system that would eventually create the condi-tions of its downfall: there is a tendency for the owners of businesses, the capi-talists, to accumulate ever-vaster wealth while the people who work for them ex-perience a declining standard of living. Marx supported this conclusion by of-fering a description of the fundamen-tal operating mechanism of capitalism. Capitalism is based on the principle of private ownership and competition. Pri-vate businesses compete with one an-other for customers, and those who fail to attract a sufficient number eventually perish. But in order to attract customers, businesses must maximize the quality of

their product while minimizing its price. If two products embody the same qual-ity but one is cheaper, customers, in pur-suit of their self-interest, will purchase the cheaper version, all other factors be-ing equal. This means that capitalists must con-stantly attempt to minimize the price of their product simply for the sake of their own survival. If a business devises a way to lower costs, it can capture the market. But, as Marx pointed out, labour costs are a huge factor in determining the price of a product. So those businesses that minimize labour costs can prevail in the dog-eat-dog world of capitalism. For this reason, a downward pressure on wages and benefits is always operating to one degree or another. But Krugman made no reference to this aspect of Marx’s analysis and instead identified two other factors that contrib-ute to the growing inequality in wealth between capitalists and workers, both of which are discussed by Marx. The first factor involves the introduc-tion of technology into the labour pro-cess, i.e. “labour-saving” technology. In other words, machines replace workers or reduce the amount of skill required in the labour process. To give a current example, software has been developed that analyzes legal documents at a frac-tion of the time it takes lawyers, while costing much less. Accordingly, many well-paid lawyers lose their jobs to such software. Living during the industrial age, Marx supplied many such examples. Krugman referred to his second ex-planatory factor that increases inequal-ity between capitalists and labour as the “monopoly power” of large corporations where “increasing business concentra-tion could be an important factor in stagnating demand for labor, as corpora-tions use their growing monopoly power to raise prices without passing the gains on to their employees.” Here Krugman is approaching the heart of Marxist theory. Krugman is basically arguing that large corporations use their power to override purely economic trends and simply de-mand that their employees work for less. But this is precisely the point of Marx-ism, although from the other direction. Marx persistently argued that capitalism could not function without the willing-ness of the working class to perform the work. When workers organize and en-gage in collective action by withholding their labour, the balance of power shifts in favour of the workers, who can then demand higher wages as a condition for their return to work, as the ILWU (Inter-national Longshore and Warehouse Un-ion) recently did on the West Coast, and the teachers did in Chicago.

Amazingly, Krugman never mentions the decline of organized labour as a huge factor explaining the decline of the standard of living of working peo-ple, adding that there has been so lit-tle discussion of these developments. But others, especially former Secretary of Labour Robert Reich, have discussed these trends and identified the decline of labour as a major factor. In the 1930s, when labour unions were tenaciously fighting for working people, huge gains were made in terms of sala-ries and benefits. They conducted mili-tant sit-down strikes and mobilized tens of thousands of people from the com-munity to support labour’s struggles. Their successes were, to a large degree, responsible for the emergence of the so-called middle class that thrived in the 1950s and 1960s. Workers who are organized, acting both collectively and forcefully, can change the economic landscape. But once or-ganized labour becomes complacent and relaxes its guard and ceases to struggle, the laws of capitalism ineluctably grind down their gains and the growing in-equality returns until workers again rise up. Marx argued that eventually workers would see the futility of this repeating cycle, reject capitalism altogether, and begin to construct a socialist society built on entirely humanistic and demo-

cratic principles. In a recent New York Times article on unionizing workers at the bottom of the pay scale, a union organizer was quot-ed as saying, “We must go back to the strategies of nonviolent disruption of the 1930s.” Currently organized labour is all but dying out. Strikes are like an endan-gered species. Rather than engaging in militant struggles, union members are urged to elect Democrats who then call on workers to accept sacrifices. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka has called on working people “to fight like hell” to resist cuts to Social Security and Medicare. But these are just words. To this date, the unions have failed to mobilize their members to stage mas-sive demonstrations across the coun-try against cuts to these popular social programs – demonstrations that could culminate in hundreds of thousands of working people descending on Washing-ton, D.C. to make their demands clear to the Obama administration and the rest of the politicians. Without the unions taking the lead in this struggle, there is little individual workers will be able to accomplish. And if the unions refuse to return to their more militant roots, but remain invisible, economists like Paul Krugman will continue to ignore their existence and overlook their current his-toric failure to defend working people.

Karl Marx

The power of example Continued from page fourupon unions by traditional labour law. About 10 years ago, activist and scholar Dan Clawson wrote The Next Upsurge, which argued that labour movements emerge as part of broader surges. Do you see what’s happening now as potentially the precipice of the type of movements we saw among workers in the private sector in the 1930s? I think it could be the beginning of one. Cer-tainly the conditions are there, and there’s an understanding among unions and or-ganizers that how they do things needs to change. That’s really been the key to the re-cent breakthroughs: new kinds of organizing. We can’t push this forward, however, with-out confronting the system of labour con-trol. Labour laws are so stacked in favour of employers that it doesn’t necessarily matter how creative we are, we’re always going to come up against the limits of a rigged sys-tem. If we’re going to move forward, we have to figure out both the necessity and the ways of being able to violate these unjust la-bour laws. If we look at labour history, that was clearly a necessity both in the 1930s and the 1960s, the two greatest upsurges of the last century.In southern Europe and in South Ameri-ca, arguably the two places in the “West” where the labour movement is the most

vibrant, there seems to be a much greater cognizance among working people that they are locked in a struggle with capital-ism. Do you think that that has to be repli-cated here in the United States?Successful trade unionism necessarily re-quires confronting capitalism. The reason that’s the case is because effective unionism challenges the ability of capital to operate. You’re basically interfering with the sale of human labour, which is the key component of capitalism. That’s what I talk about in my book; even if we think about conservative American Federation of Labor officials of 100 years ago, their underlying philosophy of hu-man labour as not being a commodity was actually quite radical. What’s happened over the last 60 to 70 years in the labour move-ment is that we’ve embraced fairly conserva-tive ideas which allow us to have unionism, but only within a framework that respects and allows the ability of capital to operate freely. What do you think needs to come next? It’s very hopeful that we’ve seen a turn in the labour movement back toward the strike and back toward grassroots activism and workplace-based activism. We’ve had a lot of other ideas that we’ve tried in the last 20 years, but returning to a very traditional and proven strategy is really our only hope.

COMBAT: November/December, 2012 Page Six

FITUG in solidarity with striking European Workers

The Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG), whose af-filiates represent some 35,000 Guy-anese workers in strategic sectors of the Guyanese economy, express our full support and solidarity with the thousands of European workers who took strike action on November 14, 2012. Workers in many cities in Greece, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, as well as other countries, protested the harsh austerity measures being implemented in several European Union (EU) nations.

Many countries in Europe, on the brink of financial and economic col-lapse, have been forced to lay off thousands of workers, impose wage cuts and freezes, and increase the re-tirement age. At the same time, they are increasing taxes, privatizing state agencies and social programmes, and slashing benefits. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Central Bank (ECB) and the European Commission have argued that these reforms are necessary to ensure fis-cal balance, but this will only serve to deepen poverty and destitution.

The measures, moreover, are seen as an attempt by the ruling classes and their lackey politicians and agents to justify the dismantling of the Euro-pean social model. The measures be-ing imposed will only serve to exac-erbate inequality and foster injustice.

Workers and citizens are paying the price for the crisis.

The latest figures from the Europe-an Commission show the European economy is shrinking in 2012, which confirms that the policy of co-ordi-nated budget cuts undermines rather than supports a potential recovery. The FITUG solidarity to the conti-nent-wide struggles of the European working peoples and youth neces-sarily entails our strongest condem-nation of the brutality meted out to the millions of demonstrators on the streets by the State at the behest of the ruling elites.

FITUG views the continuing struggles by the European working peoples as historic. For the first time in decades, if not in history, the world has, and is experiencing, the continent-wide co-ordination of workers struggles in defence of their legitimate rights, interests, livelihood and genuine de-mocracy. This is an important prece-dent in our times, which the interna-tional working class will certainly find useful in their continuing struggles for social justice and an alternative socio-economic system.

Solidarity to the European peoples’ struggles!Workers of the World, Unite!

Thousands of workers taking part in a protest in Greece on November 14, 2012 as part of a conti-nent-wide strike against the harsh austerity measures being implemented in several EU nations

GAWU pickets US Embassy- denounces Israeli aggression against Palestine

Members of the Federation of In-dependent Trade Unions of Guy-ana (FITUG), including members of the Guyana Agricultural and Gen-eral Workers Union (GAWU) and the National Association of Agri-cultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE), along with the Peoples Progressive Party (PPP) and the Guyana Rice Producers As-sociation (GRPA), on November 21, 2012, staged a spirited picketing exercise outside the United States Embassy in light of US’s huge mili-tary and financial support to Israel, which, between November 14 and 21, 2012, carried out a number of aerial bombings in Palestine. During the course of the Israeli operations, more than 1,500 sites were bombed in the Gaza Strip, and over 150 Pal-estinians were killed. The over-150 picketers bore plac-ards with slogans such as “GAWU stands fully behind the people of Palestine”; “The U.S. must stop sup-porting Israeli’s oppression of the people of Gaza”, and “Israelis mur-der of men, women and children is callous”. Prominent among the pro-testers was Guyana’s Attorney Gen-eral and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandalall, whose placard bore the slogan “Israel’s policy towards Gaza is contrary to the Rule of Law”. The purpose of the exercise was to give solidarity and support to the Palestinian people, and to call for stopping of the senseless killings by Israel, returning lands that rightfully belong to the Palestinians, and that Palestine needs to be recognised as an independent state.

In a related matter, the GAWU wel-comed the historic decision taken at the United Nations to grant Pales-tine “non-member observer State” status. Our Union, in a statement, called for pressure to be put on the United States, which is the main backer financially and militarily of Is-rael, to press Israel to discontinue its recent plan for the construction of an additional three thousand (3000) homes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and the withdrawal of Israel from the occupied territories. In welcoming this important deci-sion taken by the U.N, the GAWU takes the opportunity to express appreciation for Guyana’s stand in co-sponsoring the resolution. At the same time, we are dismayed by the position taken by the nine (9) coun-tries who voted in opposition to a just Palestinian cause. The Palestinian Ministry of Health reported that 191 Palestinians, in-cluding children, women and elder-ly, have been killed by Israeli military fire in Gaza in November, 2012, and that the number of injured Palestin-ians in the same month stands at 1,492. The Health Information Centre of the Ministry reported that 48 chil-dren, including 16 under the age of five, have been killed by Israeli mis-siles and shells, in addition to 12 women and 20 elderly. The Centre added that 1492 Pales-tinians, including 533 children (195 under the age of 5), 254 women and 103 elderly have been injured by Is-raeli fire and shells.

Picketers in front of the US Embassy, first from the left is Guyana’s Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister, Anil Nandalall

COMBAT: November/December, 2012 Page Seven

GAWU Credit Union successfully concludes 19th AGM

- G$11.7 million declared as surplus

The nineteenth (19th) Annual Gen-eral Meeting (AGM) of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers’ Cooperative Credit Union Society Ltd, Reg. # 2000, was successfully held on November 25, 2012 at the Umana Yana, Kingston, Georgetown. The gathering of approximately 250 members heard the report from the Committee of Management, which reviewed the work of the Society since its 18th AGM in October, 2011. Reports were also presented by the Society’s Supervisory Committee, and the Report of the Auditor which audited the Society’s financial affairs for the calendar year 2011 was like-wise presented. According to the Audit Report which was prepared by Y. Ishmail and Asso-ciates on behalf of the Co-operative Division of the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Secu-rity, the Society realized a surplus of $11,722,631 for year 2011. The AGM approved the payment of $8,025,842 as dividend and Interest rebate to members of the Society. It follows that this sum will be paid to the benefit of the Society’s ordinary members. The sum of $35,014 was credited to the Social and Entertain-ment Fund. The sum of $2,344,526 was distributed statutorily to the Stat-utory Reserve Fund, while the sum

of $1,172,263 was distributed to the Audit and Supervision Fund, which is remitted to the Co-operatives Di-vision of the Ministry of Labour, Hu-man Services and Social Security, in keeping with the Co-operative Act. Appropriate resolutions were ap-proved by the attenders of the Meet-ing to commit the above-mentioned disbursements. An eleven-member Management Committee comprising Cdes Bevon Sinclair, Charles Cadogan, Harvey Tambron, Aslim Singh, Julius Nurse, Gaietri Baron, Walter Raghoo, Rich-ard DeFreitas, Derek Thakur, Seepaul Narine and Rooplall Persaud were elected to manage the Society’s busi-ness until the 20th AGM, planned to be held in July, 2013. At the first meet-ing of the Management Committee, which will be held on December 12, 2012, the Chairman, the Secretary and the Treasurer of the Society will be elected. The meeting also elected Cdes Kavi-ta Bishun and Narda Mohamed to serve on the Credit Union’s Supervi-sory Committee. A third member of this Committee will be appointed by the Management Committee.

The meeting ended with a commit-ment by members to promote the Credit Union to others with a view to enlarging the Society’s membership.

Some of the Credit Union members who attended the meeting

SILWFC workers to receive 7 per cent wage/salary hike

GAWU’s General Secretary, Seepaul Narine, receiving a copy of the agreement in the prescence of SILWFC’s Chairperson, First Lady Deolatchmee Ramotar, as well as other union officials, work-ers representatives, and members of the SILWFC Board

The Guyana Agricultural and Gen-eral Workers Union (GAWU) and the Sugar Industry Labour Welfare Fund Committee (SILWFC), on December 03, 2012, signed an agreement pav-ing the way for the Committee’s four-teen (14)-person workforce to ben-efit from improved rates of pay and certain conditions of work. Wages and salaries have been in-crease by seven (7) per cent retro-active to January 01, 2012. Cycle Allowances and Mileage Allowance have been increased by ten (10) per cent. Shoe Allowance has increased from $6,000 to $6,600. Long Service

awards and Bursary awards have also been increase. A year-end agreement was approved as follows:-

• An employee up to the level of Senior Clerk will receive $45,000

• An employee above Senior Clerk level will receive $50,000

SILWFC came into being by Act No 20 of 1947, Chapter 69:03 of the Laws of Guyana, with effect from January 01, 1947. It is mandated to provide ser-vices to sugar estate workers by way of house-lot distribution, housing and repair loans, and sanitation/road construction, among other things.

GFC workers receive wage/salary hike and year-end bonus The Guyana Agricultural and Gen-eral Workers Union (GAWU) and the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC), on December 06, 2012, signed an agreement for an across-the-board increase of five (5) per cent for 2012. Earlier this year, employees benefited from increases in field al-lowance, out-of-pocket allowance, camp allowance, station allowance and commuted overtime.

The Commission, in keeping with representation by the Union, an-

nounced that it would approve a year-end bonus, expected to be a month’s pay, to each employee.

The Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) is responsible for the Man-agement and control of our coun-try’s forests, specifically to main-tain its sustainability. In 2002, our Union, the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), se-cured bargaining rights on behalf of the Commission’s 250-person work-force.

“Capitalist barbarism, crisis and Imperialist wars or socialism”

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

As the year ends... A future of Hope or UncertaintyContinued from page one

Amidst all that, however, Combat noted the dogged determination of the Government and its new leaders to continue with national develop-ment: GAWU is concerned over such issues as the new Skeldon factory’s under-par performance, the under-production of cane from our two pri-mary sources. GAWU also now rec-ognises the resurgent contribution of such products as gold and bauxite to the national economy. But it urges those in authority not to abandon the centuries-old significance of sug-ar and the still-thousands of depend-ents on that industry.

GAWU and Combat note interna-tional happenings, such as the finan-cial meltdowns in Europe and the current challenges to avoid recession now being played out in the USA. Can’t we, in Guyana’s struggling situ-ation, learn from all that? The Ameri-cans have no choice but to compro-mise in their seats of government if they are to survive. Is it beyond our

politicians and parliamentarians to do the same for those who elected them?

GAWU urges all our leaders to re-solve these five issues early in the new year: agreement on the 2013 Budgetary allocations; facilitation of local government elections to im-prove local, community democracy; an all-out strategy to keep sugar alive and viable; the exploitation of our natural resources in the interest of Guyanese; an overhaul of the Guy-ana Police Force where additional resources and infrastructure must be directed.

This is a basic New Year wish list and it is not nearly exhaustive. If ful-filled, however, it can go a long way to promote hope in Guyanese over the coming twelve months. May the politicians find ways to compromise and construct, and so destroy uncer-tainty.

Happy New Year from Combat and GAWU!

Another dismal year for sugar- this year’s production lowest since 1991

The curtain has almost come down on the production of sugar for this year (2012) with the closure of the crop on December 21, 2012, that is two (2) days away at the time of writ-ing this article. As at December 19, 2012, produc-tion from the seven (7) grinding es-tates was merely 216,827 tonnes of sugar. This year’s production, there-fore, will be miserably low. It is a dis-mal production and it is far below the industry’s first target of 265,000 tonnes sugar announced earlier in the year. There were three revisions of the target, to 236,310 tonnes in August, 2012, then to 241,000 tonnes in September, 2012 and fi-nally to 231,072 tonnes announced in November, 2012.

It has now been established that the industry hadn’t the quantity of canes to produce the sugar to meet any of its above-mentioned targets without having to reap, in practically each estate, some of next crop’s canes. While the specific production of each estate will be fully known at the con-clusion of the crop, Uitvlugt Estate, which ended its crop on week-ending November 24, 2012, produced 9,823 tonnes of sugar, falling short of its crop target by 3,090 tonnes sugar, although that Estate reaped about 50 hectares of next crop’s canes (1st crop of 2013). From week ending November 30, 2012, the ideal dry weather for cane harvesting was disturbed by intermit-tent rain, and thus cane production

began to decline. The unfavourable weather in the last four (4) weeks of the crop might have denied the industry the production of about 8,000 tonnes of sugar, but, to obtain that additional quantum, the harvest of some of next crop’s canes would have been required. Such decision is not sensible, since cane reaped be-fore its maturity naturally produces less sugar. It is, therefore, concluded that the industry continues to underproduce now for seven (7) consecutive years. For the years 2005 – 2011, the aver-age production was 241,348 tonnes. The industry’s dismal perennial pro-

duction needs urgent investigation. An account of the management of the industry and the decisions on crucial issues which have been imple-mented for the past years ought to be reflected on, with a view to adopt-ing urgently a number of crucial deci-sions in order that this important in-dustry to the country and its people be saved from further decline, and to the peril foremost to its stakehold-ers. Immediately, the industry must secure competent expertise in cane-growing, while new and crucial deci-sions are being implemented to save the country’s sugar industry.

GAWU and Guysuco approve API Agreement

The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) and the Guy-ana Sugar Corporation (Guysuco), on November 27, 2012, approved the in-dustry’s Annual Production Incentive (API) arrangement for 2012.

It was agreed that, based on the year’s production, for every quantum of 32,250 tonnes sugar, or part there-of, a qualified worker would receive a

day’s tax-free pay.

The Corporation pointed out at nego-tiations with the Union that each API day’s pay is costed at G$80M. It is likely that each worker would receive about six and three-quarter (6¾) days’ pay based on the year’s production, which is expected to be under 220,000 tonnes sugar.

Union officials along with shop stewards from the seven (7) estates meeting with Guysuco offo-cials at API negotiations