See full statement from the Peoples Progressive Party:
On the occasion of Labour Day, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) extends best wishes to all workers throughout Guyana. This observance, which celebrates our important human resources, allows workers to rally in solidarity with each other and further highlight their invaluable contributions towards the development of Guyana.
Since reestablishing the Ministry of Labour in 2020, our government has been working assiduously to address the issues that were plaguing workers throughout the 2015-2020 stint of the APNU+AFC Coalition in office, from mass retrenchments and dismissals to the massive loss of jobs brought about their incompetence.
The PPP has always been and remains steadfastly committed to the welfare of our workers, the sanctity and safety of their working environments, the evolution of laws and regulations that govern their working conditions, and most definitely the improvement of wages, salaries, and other benefits commensurate with the growth of the economy and in tandem with the execution of the government’s national transformational agenda.
Our party campaigned on a manifesto of promises to be executed during the tenure of the Dr. Irfaan Ali-led Administration and was victorious in securing a definitive mandate from the electorate. We are satisfied that the government has made steady and significant progress and remains on track to fulfilling all of its commitments to the Guyanese workers.
Very early within this current tenure of our government, burdensome taxes and fees imposed by the previous government were reversed, and the education cash grant for the children of our workers which was taken away, was restored and more than doubled.
To date, thousands of jobs have been restored and tens of thousands of new ones created to allow our citizens dignified entitlements and the chance to provide for their families, while a slew of measures were introduced to ease the burdens brought on by the global rise in the cost-of-living, including the maintenance of a waiver of excise taxes on fuel, allowing prices to remain constant at the pumps and consequently, more disposable income in the pockets of workers.
Further, tens of thousands of house lots have been allocated to Guyanese across all sectors, the Guyana Online Academy of Learning has surpassed its targeted twenty thousand scholarship awards and the T-Vet and Board of Industrial Skills Training programmes have been expanded to reach every nook and cranny of our country, while improvements to national infrastructure have been moving apace, allowing workers of all sectors to begin enjoying improved commutes to and from work. With regard to direct interventions, the government has placed our security forces, our health care workers, our teachers, and other public servants on a path of transformation, while efforts are in train to build on these interventions and expand their depth and reach across the national labour force.
Our party is resolute in its philosophical outlook that positions the workforce as the bastions of the Guyanese society and their daily contributions to national development will remain the cornerstone upon which the modern, resilient, and prosperous ‘One Guyana’ will emerge.
The PPP salutes our workers, their indefatigable commitment to nation-building, and their resolve to keep agitating for further betterment in their welfare. Long live the Guyanese Worker and the Guyanese Labour Movement.
Happy Labour Day from the People’s Progressive Party
April 30th, 2024
