VERNON GLEAN

 

A MAN OF COURAGE, INTEGRITY

 

By Natasha Ofosu

         Trinidad Guardian

April 18, 2000

Page 6

 

Late trade unionist, Vernon Glean, was yesterday hailed as a man of courage, integrity and compassion.

 

In his sermon at the funeral service for the former president general of the Seamen and Waterfront Workers' Trade Union (SWWTU), at the Trinity Cathedral, Dean Knolly Clarke said Glean's qualities were like those of Jesus Christ.

 

"You have said he was a friend who stood up for you, who stood up for working people and that is what Jesus did," Clarke said.

 

"We now celebrate a man who would stand up and be counted, a man of courage and therefore, a disciple of the Lord."

 

Clarke described Glean as a "servant-leader" who, like Jesus, understood leadership was not about dominance, but serving one's fellowmen.

 

He said Glean "saw leadership not in terms of dominating or oppressing God's people, but making himself available to working people of the country."

 

Above all, Clarke said, Glean was a man of God, a spiritual man, who was prepared for his death.  Clarke revealed he and Bishop Rawle Douglin were with Glean when he died last Tuesday and they administered the final prayers.

 

Clarke concluded: "Vernon Glean struggled - struggled to live a life for people and a life with God."

 

"He has left a baton of commitment, dedication and compassion.  Comrades, people of Trinidad and Tobago, take up the baton he has passed on.  You have a race to run, a race that is not easy."

 

Selwyn John, senator and general secretary of the National Trade Union Centre, described Glean in much the same terms as Dean Clarke.

 

John said Glean played an important part in organising the Day of Resistance of May 1989, in which trade unions protested actions and conditionalities of the International Monetary Fund.

 

"Vernon himself chaired the first mobilization meeting of the dock workers, which led to the Day of Resistance," John said.

 

He said workers now enjoy better wages, pensions and improved medical plans because of Glean's efforts.  He added Glean played a significant role in the success of the labour movement.

 

"It is therefore with great pride I will say, 'Thank you, Vernon, for the hard work you have put in to form the National Trade Union Centre, which championed the cause of workers and won the national minimum wage,'" John said.

 

Other tributes came from SWWTU president general, Francis Mungroo, who called Glean his "co-conspirator."  Glean, he said, enjoyed life to the fullest and was admired by government and public servants alike.

 

Mungroo said to those who knew him, Glean's "friendly and fatherly advice will be missed."

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