The GAWU joins with several individuals and organizations in paying tribute and recognizing the valued and valuable contribution of the late Cde Cyril Calvin Belgrave to our nation and more so its working-people. As has been pointed out, over the last few days, Cde Belgrave wore many hats including that of a trade unionist.
Belgrave, it is recalled, following his schooling, began working at Stampa in the Essequibo River at a timber grant operated by the Colonial Development Corporation. He spent a year there before returning to Georgetown where he did a number of odd jobs including working at a number of bakeries in Georgetown.
He finally went to work on the waterfront beginning at Bookers’ Thom and Cameron wharf in 1953. He was a registered waterfront worker by 1956 and remained on the waterfront until he retired. During that time, he did a number of jobs, from labourer to operator of a number of mechanical equipment including cranes and forklifts. He was also a member of the Georgetown City Council for a number of years before entering Parliament.
Cde Belgrave began his association with the trade union movement and was an active member of the Guyana Labour Union (GLU) joining the Union in 1955. He rose through the ranks of the waterfront branch first as shop steward then vice-chairman and then taking over from former president of the Guyana Trades Union Congress, the late Samuel Walker in 1984 as President of the GLU.
His involvement in the movement was fuelled by the exploitative practices of the employer class and he was steeled in his defence of the ordinary man and woman. His trade union connection brought him to the realization that genuine and profound change in the interest of the working-class could only be achieved at the political level. This led him to becoming involved in the political arena. Through this aspect of his activism, he rose to become a Member of Parliament advocating in the August house on behalf of the working people.
Though, as time went by, his trade union involvement waned, his commitment to the working-class persevered and even strengthened. He never lost touch with the sentiments of the ordinary people. Cde Belgrave had the distinction of being the first Chairman of the Trade Union Recognition and Certification Board (TURCB). It was indeed a fitting appointment especially given the long and sordid history of the Trade Union Recognition Act which gave rise to the TURCB. As the first Chairman, several advances were made during his stint and the workers of Guyana benefitted.
The GAWU, at this time, joins in extending its sincerest condolences and sympathies to the children, grand children, other relatives and friends of Cde Cyril Belgrave. While we know this is indeed a sad period for the Belgrave family, we urge them to take heart and solace in the fact that he lived a fulfilling life and his work and activities helped in making the live of many Guyanese better and Guyana a better place.
