THE TOP leadership of the National Workers Union (NWU) has distanced itself from a public statement by one of its vice-presidents warning of social unrest if the government continues on its current economic path.
Island Supervisor Vincent Morrison has publicly rebuked Norman DaCosta, vice-president and Assistant Island Supervisor in charge of the bauxite sector, for the warning which he said was not supported by the union.
But Mr DaCosta is not alone. It does not take a prophet to read the signs of the times, and NWU affiliation with the ruling Peoples National Party is irrelevant in the circumstances.
Government must take note of serious criticism of the effects of its economic policies, especially when such effects can cause public unrest. The DaCosta warning was issued against the background of the recent increase of fees and fines, particularly on motorists, which has led to protests by taxi operators. The trade unionist accused the Government of extracting more and more from the people without any plans being put in place to change the economic situation.
Predicting a very unpleasant year characterised by conflict as more of the population slip below the poverty line, Mr. DaCosta said that a major part of the problem was the government's inability to listen to others besides themselves.
The great reluctance to pay taxes, according to Mr. DaCosta, has been nourished by the Government by their lack of accountability and waste. The failure to address the needs of the people while extracting more and more from them is a "prescription for social unrest" and will contribute to 2003 being one of "the most challenging years" the country has ever seen. This is an ominous analysis and warning by a leader of a trade union that has its roots in the upheavals of 1938!
The new fees and fines are blatantly additional taxation for the Supplementary Estimates and for helping to close the Budget deficit of the current fiscal year. The next fiscal year is likely to see further efforts to increase revenue. The Minister of Finance, in a radio interview last Thursday evening, declared the intention of the Government to carry out a sustained drive to bring the informal sector of the economy into the formal sector; that is, more fully into the tax net.
While this is laudable from the perspective of sharing the tax burden and increasing revenue, it must be noted that the informal economy flourishes at an estimated 43.5 per cent of GDP both as an escape mechanism from the heavy hand of Government in the formal economy and as a means of survival by "hustling" for those who have been forced out of the formal economy by redundancies or were never included in the first place from lack of employment opportunities.
The Government must act quickly to address the conditions identified by one of their own senior union officers. That is the surest way to avoid social unrest.
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