This generation must stand up and struggle for what they want

Dear Editor, Each generation has had its own indigenous revolution and this generation, ie the youth of today, must create theirs. Nearly two-thirds of Guyana’s population today is 40 years and younger. This is an impressive number for a demographic that yearns for change. Theirs is the responsibility to translate this numerical strength into that of a mass movement and demand their place at the table ‒ at the regional, national and local government levels ‒ and work with their seniors in influencing the development of programmes where they can acquire the benefits they seek.

Unemployment among the youth as per the Caribbean Development Report averages at about 40 per cent. It means that a significant amount of this potential pool of workers’ skills and talent are lying idle. In the presence of no known national programme that would create productive endeavours for them, they have to get up and demand that programmes be put in place to materialise this.

Voting like a boss, which was done in the 2015 general and regional elections, must be transformed into real change to the benefit of this constituency. There was optimism and the aspiration that 2015 would see transformative leadership and a progressive direction, and that this should not wane but be transformed into militant action to bring about the change that was promised and fought for.

Hubert Nathaniel Critchlow was a young man aged 21 in 1905 when he led dockworkers to challenge the merchants and colonial authorities to bring about improved working and living conditions for workers. From this action the trade union movement was born in Guyana and the British Commonwealth, which earned him the title of Father of Trade Unionism in the British Commonwealth and Guyana’s national hero. Critchlow did not stop in 1905. He continued the fight to advance the welfare of workers in and out of their workplace.

In 1926 he organised and participated in the first Caribbean Labour Conference, which charted a course for the development of the Caribbean peoples. That programme included the fight for one man one vote (universal suffrage), internal self-government, West Indian Federation, prison reform, minimum wage, 8-hour work day, public education and health for all, among others.

In the 1940s a new youth leadership brigade that included Cheddi Jagan and Forbes Burnham (men in their 30s) hit the national landscape bringing their brand of revolution. They joined the trade union movement and embraced its agenda, advanced its programme, and incorporated same into a national political movement. This militancy led to the intensification of the fight for internal self-government which resulted in independence and republican status.

As a trade unionist, I am proud that one of the first things independent Guyana did was to become a member of the world’s oldest body, the International Labour Organisation. From this association two conventions were ratified in 1966. They are Freedom of Association (Convention No. 87) and the Right to Collective Bargaining (Convention No. 98).

My generation has seen the revolution that demanded equity in the political system and the trade union movement. This resulted in the greater involvement of young people in the decision-making processes, both in the union and politics. The youth in the trade movement carried the national fight to improve workers’ conditions. At the political level youth agitated for the age of voting to

move from 21 years to 18 years. A batch of young people associated with the PNC marched from Linden to Georgetown and pressed the Forbes Burnham government to change the voting age, which he did, and which we retain today.

In 2012, another spark was seen in Linden/Region 10 when the youthful political leadership of Sharma Solomon and Vanessa Kissoon along with experienced trade unionists Leslie Gonsalves, Charles Sampson and Maurice Butters on the ground, inaugurated a struggle the likes of which had not been seen for some time in this society. This resulted in the inking of an agreement with central government on 21st August, 2012 that came with the blood, sweat and tears of members of the community. This agreement includes an Economic Committee to develop an economic plan for the Region’s development.

The people of Linden/Region 10 must hold the APNU+AFC government and regional authority responsible for implementing the agreement. Dispensing handouts does not constitute upholding an agreement for economic self-sufficiency.

In life you get what you struggle for. This generation must now stand up and struggle for what they want. They must be their own revolutionaries. It is Labour’s view that national programmes must take on board the concerns of all groups, and particularly in this case new jobs must be created to attract and employ the young. Yours faithfully, Lincoln Lewis