Africa-Press – Cape verde. The President of the Republic of Cape Verde left a message today to Cape Verdean workers, on this 1st of May, which marks the International Labor Day. The head of state recalls that three years of severe drought, two years of a pandemic (still ongoing) and the war in Ukraine have resulted in a drop in GDP, more unemployment and rising inflation, with a devastating effect on the lives of our workers and the their respective families.
On the occasion of International Workers’ Day, which is celebrated this Sunday, 1st of May, José Maria Neves appeals to the State, Municipalities, NGOs, Churches, companies (public and private), and trade unions, among other institutions, to hold hands and help those who are going through moments of great fragility, including food deprivation, at this time of crisis.
“In Cape Verde, when we talk about Labor Day, we usually imagine joy, celebrations and a lot of fraternization. This year, unfortunately, the 1st of May leaves us little reason to celebrate. The reality experienced by many workers today was not part of our most pessimistic predictions, a couple of years ago”, begins by saying, JMN.
A “quite unlikely and consecutive series of incredibly unfavorable occurrences” for the national economy, recalls the Head of State, “had a devastating effect on the lives of our workers and their respective families”.
Three years of severe drought, two years of pandemic (still ongoing) and the war in Ukraine resulted in a drop in GDP (which in 2020 was already 14.8%), more unemployment and rising inflation.
social drama
“It is not difficult to imagine, above all, the feeling and state of deprivation of the heads of families who have lost their jobs and of many families that today have very little, or even no type of income, even being at stake the satisfaction of the most basic needs”, he warned.
José Maria Neves says that in this context, “we are facing a social drama whose impact is most felt by the low-income population, whose erosion of purchasing power makes them incapable of acquiring basic necessities”.
“We are fully aware that many of these homes, which have gone through moments of shortage, are headed by women, and that poverty has a female face”, recognizes JMN, remembering that they are people who are dedicated to subsistence agriculture, livestock, street vending, or other
similar activities, “hardly hit by this persistent crisis”, and these women, “who carry Cape Verde on their backs, much more than good intentions, cry out for concrete actions, with an impact on their lives and that can contribute to the resolution of your most pressing problems.”
If, on the one hand, the capacity for sacrifice and resistance of the most vulnerable people is being put to the test, the Head of State appeals, which is also the moment for all Cape Verdeans, residents and in the diaspora, once again time, “to show all their compassion, empathy, solidarity, generosity and feeling of sharing towards all those who are going through a moment of difficulty and ordeal”.
The Cape Verdean, says JMN, “is made of a fiber that does not allow him to lower his arms, fall into discouragement or capitulate to obstacles”.
“I am sure that, with the recourse to the noblest qualities of this people, very quickly, what is today a hope for better days, will very soon cease to be a mirage, to become a firmness in better days, of happiness. and progress for all”.
However, he admits that workers have been living “increasingly”, with “unemployment, precarious employment and the loss of purchasing power”.
savings culture
Faced with such an adverse reality, he says, the motto that “together we are stronger” suggests a more generalized unionization as the best way for workers to unite, collectively and in a coalition of efforts, in defense of the causes they are told. respect”. And for that, he says, “the more representative and vigorous the unions, the better they will be able to represent and defend their members”.
The moment, he emphasizes, “is the most appropriate for the preservation and strengthening of union institutions, which are grounded in history, thanks to the decisive contributions to the affirmation of unionism in Cape Verde. On the contrary, to weaken unionism is to weaken the worker”.
Thus, he leaves a “strong appeal” so that, “in a serene way, with the capacity for dialogue and balance, the best paths of convergence can be found, which dignify and strengthen unions, which are pillars of the Democratic Rule of Law.
The Head of State also reinforces that “it is necessary to have an exact notion of the reality” that is lived and to “internalize the culture of savings, rationalization and the search for efficiency in the use of resources and in the achievement of the recommended objectives”.
“I hope that next year, without drought, pandemic or war, this crisis will be over and that we will have well-founded reasons to celebrate May 1st with peace, joy, employment for workers and confidence in the future”, f. inhales.
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