New CCL executive hail Guyana’s immunity to growth stagnation - Officials meet President
Georgetown, GINA, October 6, 2011
Source - GINA
President Bharrat Jagdeo in discussion with Caribbean Congress of Labour President David Messiah and members of the new executive
The new executives of the Caribbean Congress of Labour (CCL) see Guyana as an exception to the challenge economies in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) region face today, that of slow growth.
This was the view of CCL General Secretary Chester Humphrey who was part of a delegation led by CCL’s President David Messiah to meet President Bharrat Jagdeo in their ongoing efforts at reorganizing the union body to meet the challenges facing the region today.
Other members were CCL’s First Vice President Anne-Marie Barker, Sir Roy Trotman who is also General Secretary of the Barbados Workers’ Union.
Humphrey who is also a member of the CCL General Council spoke briefly with the Government Information Agency (GINA) about today’s challenges being high unemployment, little or no growth in regional economies and deteriorating social indices.
“All of these things present serious challenges to the labour movement. We need to strengthen our regional profile and to reorganize,” Humphrey said.
President Jagdeo on numerous occasions has been on record stating that the Guyanese economy has grown significantly from a Caribbean Council of Churches rating in the 1990s as the poorest in the Caribbean to one which is today robust.
He has been crediting such achievements to the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) pursuit since taking office in 1992 to bring stability to the entire economy by removing several hurdles.
“We were using 94% of revenue to pay back debt that we borrowed a long time ago and that is only external debt. Every year we took 94% of all the revenue we collected and sent it abroad to service that debt and then 20% of revenue went to pay wages and salaries in the public sector. So when you add the two that’s a 114% of revenue to pay debts and wages and salaries in the public sector,” President Jagdeo said.
Only recently the Guyanese economy was hailed in an International Monetary Fund (IMF) country report for demonstrating resilience and recording a fifth consecutive year of robust growth for 2010, even in the face of external and domestic shocks.
A major part of the CCL’s reorganization is broadening unification and the creation of a framework through which support can be provided and differences can be narrowed within the labour movement.
The new executives have to date visited the governments of the Bahamas, Grenada and Barbados. Their visit to Guyana stemmed from an invitation by President Jagdeo while at the CARICOM Intersessional meeting in Grenada.
The CCL had made an intervention in the period when British American and CL Financial insurance companies had faced a major collapse that affected the pension and other assets of several workers.
Humphrey described yesterday’s meeting with President Jagdeo as a good engagement that ended with a commitment by the Guyanese Head of State to the local and regional labour movement.
“He is an outgoing President but we were able to share a number of ideas and views moving forward,” Humphrey said.
Georgetown, GINA, October 6, 2011
Source - GINA
President Bharrat Jagdeo in discussion with Caribbean Congress of Labour President David Messiah and members of the new executiveThe new executives of the Caribbean Congress of Labour (CCL) see Guyana as an exception to the challenge economies in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) region face today, that of slow growth.
This was the view of CCL General Secretary Chester Humphrey who was part of a delegation led by CCL’s President David Messiah to meet President Bharrat Jagdeo in their ongoing efforts at reorganizing the union body to meet the challenges facing the region today.
Other members were CCL’s First Vice President Anne-Marie Barker, Sir Roy Trotman who is also General Secretary of the Barbados Workers’ Union.
Humphrey who is also a member of the CCL General Council spoke briefly with the Government Information Agency (GINA) about today’s challenges being high unemployment, little or no growth in regional economies and deteriorating social indices.
“All of these things present serious challenges to the labour movement. We need to strengthen our regional profile and to reorganize,” Humphrey said.
President Jagdeo on numerous occasions has been on record stating that the Guyanese economy has grown significantly from a Caribbean Council of Churches rating in the 1990s as the poorest in the Caribbean to one which is today robust.
He has been crediting such achievements to the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) pursuit since taking office in 1992 to bring stability to the entire economy by removing several hurdles.
“We were using 94% of revenue to pay back debt that we borrowed a long time ago and that is only external debt. Every year we took 94% of all the revenue we collected and sent it abroad to service that debt and then 20% of revenue went to pay wages and salaries in the public sector. So when you add the two that’s a 114% of revenue to pay debts and wages and salaries in the public sector,” President Jagdeo said.
Only recently the Guyanese economy was hailed in an International Monetary Fund (IMF) country report for demonstrating resilience and recording a fifth consecutive year of robust growth for 2010, even in the face of external and domestic shocks.
A major part of the CCL’s reorganization is broadening unification and the creation of a framework through which support can be provided and differences can be narrowed within the labour movement.
The new executives have to date visited the governments of the Bahamas, Grenada and Barbados. Their visit to Guyana stemmed from an invitation by President Jagdeo while at the CARICOM Intersessional meeting in Grenada.
The CCL had made an intervention in the period when British American and CL Financial insurance companies had faced a major collapse that affected the pension and other assets of several workers.
Humphrey described yesterday’s meeting with President Jagdeo as a good engagement that ended with a commitment by the Guyanese Head of State to the local and regional labour movement.
“He is an outgoing President but we were able to share a number of ideas and views moving forward,” Humphrey said.