GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – The Guyana High Court is being asked to stop the Constitutional Reform Commission (CRC) from carrying out its functions because the labor movement was not consulted about who should be the workers’ representative.
Lawyers representing Julian Cambridge, the second Vice President of the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU), and Kempton Alexander, the general secretary of the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU), say their clients are also objecting to Aslim Singh, the trade union’s representative on the CRC. The two unions are affiliated with the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC).
They want the High Court to issue several declarations, including one that “the failure to engage in any consultation with the constituent labor unions which in Guyana constitute the labor movement as referred to in Section 4 of the Constitution Reform Commission Act No. 16 of 2022 renders the said Constitution Reform Commission not lawfully and validly constituted.”
Singh is the general secretary of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), which is associated with the ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C).
The GAWU is also an affiliate of the breakaway Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG), which enjoys a good relationship with the PPP/C. Meanwhile, the GTUC and its affiliates are associated with the opposition People’s National Congress Reform/A Partnership for National Unity (APNU).
In their motion, Cambridge and Alexander argue that President Irfaan Ali’s appointment of Singh as a representative of Labour breached Guyana’s constitution because there was no consultation as envisaged and provided for in the Preamble to the Guyana Constitution and the Constitution Reform Commission Act.
They argue that the appointment is procedurally irrational, null, void, and of no legal effect. They want the High Court to declare that the Constitution Reform Commission Act is inconsistent as it seeks to establish a Commission and confer on it functions that are exclusively vested in the Parliamentary Standing Committee for Constitutional Reform by Article 119 A of the Constitution of Guyana.
They also want the High Court to issue an order directing the CRC not to act or engage in any of the functions, duties, and obligations conferred on it until a nominee representing the labor movement is appointed by Section 4 of the Constitution Reform Commission Act after consultations with the labor unions constituting the labor movement.
The applicants listed 19 labor organizations and checked with 15 of them, who said they were never consulted about submitting the name of any person to be the labor movement’s nominee.
The CRC is chaired by former Chancellor Justice Carl Singh. As President Ali outlined, its mandate encompasses a wide array of areas critical for potential reforms, reflecting the dynamic nature of Guyanese society and the global landscape.
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