The late General Secretary of the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE) was yesterday remembered as a “true champion” of workers.
Joseph, 65, who was also the General Secretary of Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG), passed on Thursday at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, where he was being treated for a stroke he suffered three weeks ago.
According to a statement issued by NAACIE yesterday, Joseph dedicated most of his life to the “upliftment of workers’ rights, strength and unity” and he represented the cause not only in Guyana but in other countries as well, including Antigua, Barbados, Brazil, England, Jamaica Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela.
Joseph had worked in bauxite industry in Linden before taking up a position at the Albion Estate of the Guyana Sugar Corpora-tion.
It was during that time that he became a member of NAACIE. “With the urge to represent workers and leadership qualities he became a Representative of NAACIE and was elected General President of the Union,” it said, while noting that on July 1st, 2002, Joseph was seconded to the union’s Head Office as the General President and served in the position until he was appointed as General Secretary on June 1st, 2006.
Meanwhile, the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) said that it was during Joseph’s stint as NAACIE General Secretary that the long-standing bonds between the two unions became stronger.
“Our Union has shared many common platforms with him and, by extension, NAACIE as our Unions together sought to protect, defend and advance particularly the cause of the workers of the sugar industry and workers generally,” it said in a statement yesterday, while noting that he served with distinction and with great commitment to the workers that he represented.
“GAWU recognizes Cde Joseph as a staunch trade unionist who never failed to take account of the plight of the working-people of Guyana. We recall his readiness whenever workers’ rights were disrespected and trampled upon, to be there in the midst of the struggles in their defence,” the union said.
It recalled that his last appearance with GAWU was on December 31st, 2016, when the government advised of its consideration to close Enmore and Rose Hall Estates and to sell-out Skeldon Estate. It said he was very much disturbed and upset over the government’s suggestions and pointed out that the workers needed to heighten their struggle to prevent such developments.
“Cde Joseph correctly and consistently recognized that the unity of the working-class was an essential requirement in order for workers to overcome some of the challenges they face in our day. And, he had always sought to promote measures that would engender unity and collaboration within the Trade Union Movement,” the union added, while saying that he would be missed by GAWU and the trade union movement as a whole.
In extending condolences to Joseph’s wife, children, relatives and friends as well as his union, GAWU noted that he was “a fine leader, a stalwart and a true champion of the workers.”
