ST GEORGE'S, GRENADA: Labor Minister Claris Charles wants security guarantees form the organizers if she is to attend the tradition May day Rally on Labor Day next month. Charles, a former trade unionist, is weary of entering what has now traditionally become a hostile environment for every Minister of Labor. The current minister has written to the Grenada Trade Union Council asking that it guarantees her safety at the annual labor day rally on May 1. In the letter copied to local and regional labor organizations Charles said she is reluctant to attend this year's workers rally because of the way in which her predecessor was treated last year. Lawrence Joseph, who is now the Speaker of the House of Representatives was booed and harassed throughout his entire labor day address last year. At one stage some workers even pulled his microphone. Shortly after May Day Joseph reported being attacked at his St George's home by a man brandishing a cutlass and though official suggested it might have been either politically or labor related, police have said they have found no evidence to support the claim. Last May Day tensions were running high between Government and the Labor Movement over the controversial Labor Relations Act, part of which seeks to regulate when and how essential services employees can take industrial action. The issue is yet to be resolved one year later and the trade union movement says it is still strongly opposed and committed to defeating the new regulations. Charles' letter was copied to the eight affiliate unions of the TUC, the Employers Federation and the Caribbean Congress of Labor. There has not been an official response from the TUC as yet. While last year's heckling of Joseph was considered the worst at any labor day celebrations, the behavior has become something of tradition dating back to the mid 1980s. Since the restoration of democracy here in 1983 every minister from three different administrations has been heckled at the celebrations. The behavior started in 1985 when educator George McGuire was the Minister of Labor and Charles was then General Secretary of the TUC. The theme for this year's May Day celebrations is 'Workers and Trade Unions in a Globalized World'. Errol Mc Cloud of the Oil Field Workers Trade Union of Trinidad and Tobago is being invited to be the Guest Speaker, but the TUC is also trying to get the great South African freedom fighter and former president Nelson Mandela to speak at the rally. Mandela and Bishop Desmond Tutu will be in Grenada from April 29 for two days to help promote South Africa's bid to host the 2010 World Cup football tournament. The two well-known South Africans have been invited to make a presentation at the CONCACAF Football Congress by President Austin Jack Warner. SOURCE: CARIBUPDATE.COM