Congress 2009: Your Voices, Your Choices at Port Mourant

The 19th Delegates’ Congress of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers’ Union (GAWU) will be convened under the theme “Advancing Social Development through Greater Workers’ Democracy”. The Opening Session will be held on (Sat) 15th August, 2009 at the Guyana International Conference Centre, Lilendaal, Greater Georgetown and the Business Sessions on (Mon) 17th August and (Tue) 18th August, 2009 at J.C. Chandisingh Secondary School, Port Mourant, Berbice. The Congress which is held triennially, will among other things, review the work of the Union since its last Congress in August, 2006, elect a new General Council and set out tasks for the ensuing three years.

Dr Freek Schiphorst, Senior Lecturer at the prestigious Institute of Social Studies (ISS) in the Hague, Holland, will deliver the feature address and declare open the Congress. Congress is the Union’s highest decision-making forum and it is expected to have some 600 delegates drawn from the its membership from the Guyana Sugar Corporation Inc, Fisheries, Rum & Soft Drink, Forestry, Clerical and Timber entities. Delegates will be nominated to attend Congress through their Branches. Those from the sugar industry will be attending at the behest of union groups.

High on the Congress’ agenda is the challenges posed to the sugar industry and its thousands of employees, resulting from the huge cut of 36% by the European Union of the sugar price for sugar imported from ACP countries over a four (4) year period, which will culminate on September 30, this year.

The new General Council will, after Congress, at its first business session, elect a new Executive which will assist the General Council and to manage the union, continuously negotiate with employers during the next three years, as well as to mount programmes to promote members’ education and welfare.

Delegates to Congress will get their voices heard and to participate in the democratic practice and tradition of making decisions in their own interest.