…says much more needed to promote racial harmony in Guyana
Cognizant of the fact that Guyana remains a racially divided nation, the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU), in its quest to foster racial harmony, will be enhancing the work of its Race Relations Committee as it celebrates its 23rd Anniversary today.
As in the case of any other Elections in Guyana, the 2020 General and Regional Election has resulted in a highly racially charged environment, but GPSU, through its Race Relations Committee, has been joining forces to promote racial harmony.
“There is still much work to be done to promote racial harmony, acceptance and tolerance among the wider society and to remove the scourge of racial and xenophobic intolerance and prejudices from the mindset of many individuals in Guyana,” GPSU said in a statement on Tuesday.
It pointed out that the utterances of certain politicians, during the General and Regional Elections 2020 campaign, contributed to the widespread tension and protests, including unwarranted attacks on staff of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM). “Urgent actions need to be taken to defuse, where necessary any likely racial prejudices,” it posited, while challenging Guyanese to do better.
“The GPSU urges the general public to desist from engaging in any conduct that would be disruptive or harmful to anyone. No good can come from tearing apart our neighborhoods and destroying our communities. It is time for us to open our minds, shed our biases and engage in constructive dialogue and productive actions that benefit all of us as a nation. Let us remember that while we may be of different races and may have different stories we are humans, “One People” created equal under God!,” GPSU urged.
Today marks 23 years since the GPSU’s Race Relations Committee was formally launched, to address, largely many of the issues the country still faces.
Its formation received international commendation from Sir Herman Ouseley, Chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality, London, United Kingdom; Bro. Han Engelberts, General Secretary, Public Services International, Ferney, France; and Bro. Joseph Pollydore, General Secretary, Guyana Trades Union Congress among others.
“The genesis of this action was premised on the change of the Government of Guyana with Elections held on 5th November 1992, which was a concomitant change as a result of a ground swell of poor ethnic relations in communities. Additionally, within the public service of Guyana it was obvious that the incoming government lacked confidence without merit, in the holders of many public service offices, who were predominantly of different ethnicities to the presumed racial support base of the then elected government. Actions taken by the new government were extremely glaring and unsubstantiated both in the national public service and in the Guyana Diplomatic Missions based overseas,” the GPSU recalled as it walked down memory lane.
It said the posture of the then People’s Progressive Party/Civic Government resulted in serious conflict with the Union, which at the time, had challenged the Government’s campaign of ethnic cleansing.
“Most glaring was the action taken at the Customs and Excise Department when over 90 percent of the most senior staff members, including the then Comptroller of Customs, Mr. Clarence Chue and his Deputy, Mr. Harold Bahadur were instructed to go on indefinite leave in November 1992, in a most highhanded and irregular manner,” it recalled.
At the time, it was flooded with numerous complaints, prompting it to look at racism in a more holistic manner. It noted that the approach to dealing with this problem changed from an individualist approach that was being used on a case by case basis to a general assessment of the root cause of the problem and path forward.
“It was decided that the course of action to be taken was to amend the rules of the Union to incorporate the race relations mission as one of its functions with clearly defined objectives. The Union was forced to take this route because notwithstanding the pledge of the Government to establish an Ethnic Relations Commission and to address the scourge of racism nationally, this committee never functioned,” it said.
It, however, admitted that its first attempt to include race relations in its rules had shortcomings. Years later, a steering committee was appointed by the President of the GPSU with the mandate to prepare a strategic plan and submit recommendations to address and improve race relations within the union and the Public Service.
The Steering Committee commenced work on November 30, 1996 and December 26, 1996, it submitted a Concept Paper to the Executive Council and an agenda for the period January – June 1997, which concluded with the launching of this committee.
At the launching of this committee the President of the Union, Patrick Yarde, acknowledged that the citizenry was thrown together by historic occurrences which compels them to coexist with each other. He had said that, in effect, the relationship was a marriage with no provisions for divorce.
Admitting that there was no blue-print to deal with racism, Yarde said the Union took the commonsense approach in addressing the unavoidable environment in which workers lived and operate. In attendance, the Late Mrs. Janet Jagan, Prime Minister of Guyana addressed the gathering and endorsed the efforts of the Union.
“The GPSU is proud of its efforts to maintain good and enlightened race relations at the leadership level, the membership level, the staff level, the community level, and at agencies throughout Guyana. However, observations and concerns made then at the launching of the Committee on June 9th, 1997, 23 years ago, are all still significantly relevant today,” it acknowledged.
Since the launching of the committee, the Union’s Rules were further amended to extend the mandate of the Committee to deal with Equality and Human Rights.
Its Executive Council has not only enhanced the work of its Race Relations Committee in its current Strategic Plan and Programme of Activities but has identified it as one of the top priorities of the Union. The only aspect now being looked at is the redefining and streamlining of the Union’s programme in engaging members in this new environment of COVID-19 and the requirements of social and physical distancing. This is being done in compliance with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Four-Pillar Policy Framework on the Revised Decent Work Agenda, taking into consideration this new development.
Source: https://issuu.com/guyanachroniclee-paper/docs/guyana_chronicle_e-paper_6-10-2020