We Are All Workers !!
One Caribbean Nation.
Under normal circumstances, Caribbean workers would be
celebrating, today May 1st- May Day with addresses by Trade union
leaders, picnics, and entertainment. After a public assembly, leisure would
take over and that social camaraderie, a vital part of any movement would be
enjoyed by all: union members, supporters, families and friends.
The current COVID-19 and social distancing have obviously
dampened, and in some cases, wiped out these traditional and popular celebrations.
On this May Day, many workers, find themselves “out of work”; confined to their
homes and practicing rules and regulations that are designed to save their
lives and not jobs.
Once more trade unions are being asked to redefine themselves
as they adjust to the new normal. Regional governments are scrambling, to find
solutions that ensure workers do not get trapped and eventually remain helpless
in the cracks suddenly created by this menacing virus.
While we are encouraged by the admirable response by regional
governments to COVID, and without reservation, support their gallant efforts to
combat the epidemic, we are more than
aware that their major challenge, is to ensure that these cracks do not get any
wider because if they do , our workers would all fall into a bottomless socio
-economic pit.
Against this background, the MCG, calls on all citizens to
keep our workers safe as we join them today, in quite solemn celebrations. Let
us make the current refrain: “We are in this together” more than a slogan.
Let us all see ourselves as workers!!
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