By Grantley Culbard
General Secretary/CEO
Dear Members, Friends and Well-wishers of the Clerical and Commercial Workers’ Union (CCWU):
A Happy and Blessed New Year to you!
THE year 2007, like the previous one, has been an eventful one for us. It has been a year of a mix of challenges, successes and disappointments. It was a year in which we were able to rise above the challenges which confronted us, due the steadfastness of our members.

For us in the CCWU there were two major events, among others, that we can look back on with pride. One was Cricket World Cup 2007 hosted by the region for the very first time. It gave us in Guyana the opportunity to showcase our country to the world. We did a very good job of it. Our members who were involved either as volunteers to ensure that all visitors were comfortable or were directly involved in the matches staged here can feel justly proud of what they did. The other major event that we call attention to at this time was our 1st Triennial Delegates’ Conference, the highest body in the Union’s structure. Elections for a new executive committee were held and delegates elected persons whom they believe could best serve the Union at this time. Whereas the General Secretary, Principal Assistant General Secretary and Treasurer remain the same we saw changes in the other positions from the president down. The new executive now has the responsibility to provide the kind of leadership that would see us successfully through 2008 and immediately beyond.

As we look back on 2007, we must again express our disappointment in the fact that the trade union movement remains divided. Selfishness, on the part of some leaders in Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC), is one of the main reasons why the division persists. The Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG), the other umbrella trade union organization, made overtures to the GTUC in an effort to bridge the divide but the principal leaders of the GTUC continued to play games and to dodge the issue. The CCWU is one of two unions associated with both organizations and has tried its best to help mend the breach. As long as this division continues, the workers in both groupings will be unable to fully realize their just demands.

Unfortunately, the degree of selfishness was of such that we saw some persons prepared to destroy the organization if they can’t have their own way. So it was not a question of caring for the organization and its members but obsession with looking after self.

Among our disappointments of 2007 is the recurrence of suffering losses in membership for one reason or another. The workers of two former companies, Viceroy Shipping and J. P. Knight International, which operated in the Berbice area, having been absorbed by a new company Oldendorff Carriers remain without proper union representation. These workers were represented by CCWU when they were associated with the former companies but were robbed of continued CCWU representation by another union affiliated to the GTUC. However, we will continue to try to ensure that those workers get proper representation by us as we move forward in 2008.

One of the recognition issues carried over from 2007 to 2008 is that of the successor airline to BWIA, Caribbean Airlines. This airline became operative on January 1, 2007. In 2008, we hope to be able to fully organize the workers in this new company.

During the past year, we again witnessed instances of some employers not responding to requests for meetings to discuss and resolve disputes. Among the employers guilty of such behaviour is the state run National Communications Network (NCN). Two letters requesting a meeting were directed to the Human Resources Manager and then one to the Chief Executive Officer. But up to the time of preparing this message there was no positive response from NCN. In any event, in 2008, we will be working to ensure that meetings requested are held. We would not accept that any employer with whom the CCWU deals could wake up any morning and terminate one of our members, then say that they acted in accordance with the law and that it would serve no useful purpose to meet the Union to discuss the issue. If such employer behaviour was to go unchallenged then we would be entering into a dangerous trend in industrial relations in this country. It is contempt for the Union when an employer refuses to meet with it to discuss something that was irregular.

Collective bargaining appears to be under threat. While unions were doing their level best to secure adequate pay increases, we saw the Government move to impose a 9% increase in wages in the public sector in 2007. This kind of action now seems to be a trend. The private sector then moved to offer similar increases. This was done against a backdrop of an inflation rate in excess of 13.1% (at July 2007). It doesn’t take an expert to tell us that the workers real wages have further declined. If we continue to receive inadequate pay compared to the level of prices of goods and services then we are surely heading toward a pauperized workforce.

The introduction of the Value Added Tax (VAT) on January 1, 2007 was seen as an equitable form of taxation for all consumers. However, experience has shown that VAT is a greater burden on the poorer class because some members of the business community have increased many fold the prices of their goods.

We understand too that Government’s revenue from VAT surpassed all expectations. We called on the Government to review the workings of VAT with a view to lowering the percentage level of the tax so that revenue from same is more in keeping with what was originally anticipated.

We want the Government to take such steps as are necessary in 2008 to avoid any member of the business community from further exploiting the operation of VAT. Although a number of basic food items are zero rated, the prices continue to go up. If the workers feel that they are getting a raw deal in relation to VAT and other taxation, they are not going to respond to

up their productivity when they are constantly under distress, and development works will continue to suffer. We therefore call on Government to lower the level of VAT in 2008 and further, to address the question of income tax reform in a way that would relieve some of the pressure under which the ordinary workers are living.

2008 promises to be a very demanding and challenging year in many respects. But we are going to face the challenges with confidence, knowing fully well that we can count on the loyalty of our members to overcome all obstacles. As we continue to work toward rebuilding our organization, we intend to display a new image, structurally and otherwise. We are going to formalize a business relationship with our Credit Union, the Clerical and Commercial Workers’ Co-operative Credit Union Limited. This would enhance our premises and help to propel us to other gains.

We wish to reassure our members of our commitment to the best quality of service to them and to workers generally as we face the challenges of 2008. It is our fervent hope that the trade union movement reunites and reaps more benefits for our membership and workers generally.

On behalf of the Executive, Staff and Members of the CCWU, I extend sincere best wishes to all Guyanese wherever they may be for a fruitful 2008.
Let us all be: “Linked Together in Unity for Progress.”