The Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) officially launched its May Day 2025 activities on Sunday with a solemn wreath-laying ceremony, during which labor leaders voiced growing concerns about the state of workers’ rights and the soaring cost of living in Guyana.
Speaking at the event, Coretta MacDonald, General Secretary of the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU), emphasized that many members of the working class are grappling with starvation-level wages that cannot cover basic needs.
“Many of our working-class folks are unable to meet even the most basic necessities because of the rising cost of living,” MacDonald stressed.
She further criticized the criminalization of industrial action and the erosion of labor rights, warning that these developments threaten the fundamentals of democracy and freedom in Guyana. According to MacDonald, workers’ rights are being undermined by political, corporate, and personal interests.
“It is an ethical abomination when those entrusted with protecting workers’ rights instead become tools for the very forces that suppress them,” she said.
In a strong call to action, MacDonald urged trade unions across Guyana to unite and reclaim their role as defenders of workers’ dignity and justice.
The launch ceremony sets the tone for this year’s Labor Day celebrations scheduled for Thursday, May 1, when workers will march across the country to demand better conditions, higher wages, and the protection of their rights.
The 2025 Labor Day theme underscores the urgent need for solidarity amid economic hardships, inflation, and what unions describe as the increasing suppression of workers’ voices.
