Latest update November 8th, 2024 1:00 AM
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Influx of Chinese eroding international labour standards — Lewis
“The political leaders need to understand the seriousness and, more so, the consequences of what they are doing.”
General Secretary of the GTUC Lincoln Lewis
This is contention of General Secretary (GS) of the Guyana Trade Union Congress (GTUC), Lincoln Lewis. His comments were sparked by the influx of Chinese which he says is devaluing the labour markets and eroding the labour standards.
According to Lewis the government has taken a decision that it is going to rely on Chinese investments. In so doing it is denying “the population an opportunity for employment.”
Lewis said, “The Chinese in the construction sector make no provisions for the direct input of our people.” This was the case with the construction of the Marriott Hotel where only Chinese were employed even though Government had affirmed that Guyanese would be involved in its construction.
It was further discovered that two Chinese businessmen will be the private investors in the project.
“We have to put the citizens of this country to work; we can’t have a situation where we have masons and construction people languishing looking for jobs but at the same time we are bringing in people to do the same jobs from China.”
Lewis contended that there is a process of discrimination from the government. “They discriminate in favour of the Chinese.”
“It is a political decision being made and it requires political actions. It is not a matter primarily for the Trade Union but the Trade Union has a responsibility to the community in which we operate and it against that backdrop we have to join forces to ensure that the Guyanese citizens are protected.”
Lewis said that within the International Labour Organization (ILO) there “is an offer called the Decent Worker agenda which talks to specific labour standards. Those standards are embraced by the World Bank and the United Nations and so forth. In the past the Caribbean has been deemed as one of the regions that respect workers rights.
“We have had over the last few years the Chinese coming in and they have been eroding those standards in collaboration with the government.”
A classic example in Guyana is that of the then 14-year-old boy who in 2010 was allegedly hidden away by his Chinese employers, China Trading, at their farm at Garden of Eden, East Bank Demerara.
Labour officials, acting on information, went to the Garden of Eden farm and located the teenager who was later reunited with his family.
The Home Affairs Ministry had expressed specific concerns about allegations of sexual misconduct and abuse by the Chinese nationals committed against Amerindian girls and boys during their employ at China Trading.
“We cannot as a people sit down and allow the Chinese to get away with it.”
“These are serious things; they were done in Africa and now they are being done here. Labour sees politics as people and people’s development and we have to protect the interest of Guyanese” Lewis decried.
“It’s a new form of indentureship we are encouraging, we are bringing people living and dwelling in certain conditions that are not to be tolerated. They have their own sites that the Minister of Labour is precluded, to some extent, from policing,” said Lewis.
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