Mr. Pollydore, 94, a former founder member and General Secretary of the then Transport Workers Union and later General Secretary of the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC), was reported to have "succumbed to old age" after he was admitted to the medical institution earlier this week.

The Office of the President said President Bharrat Jagdeo recognised the lifelong contributions made by Mr. Pollydore and joined with all Guyanese in mourning his passing.

The President extended condolences to the grieving family and friends of Mr. Pollydore and noted that he served the working class in Guyana well and in so doing has secured a place in the history of trade unionism in this country.

Minister of Labour, Human Services and Social Security, Dr. Dale Bisnauth said it was with "deep regret" that he learnt of the passing of Mr. Pollydore who he described as a "veteran trade unionist and veritable institution in the labour movement in Guyana, the Caribbean and elsewhere".

(September, 1995) President Bharrat Jagdeo (then Finance Minister) along with Mr. Lincoln Lewis, Prime Minister Sam Hinds, and Mr. Joseph Pollydore.
"Joseph Pollydore was an indefatigable fighter in the workers' cause. Reasonable, principled and courageous in that cause, his would be a difficult act to follow," a statement from Minister Bisnauth said.

He said, too, that Pollydore has left a monumental legacy to trade unionism in Guyana and his passing leaves a void that will not be easily filled.

"My sympathies go to his relatives who mourn his passage as well as to colleagues in the trade union movement," the minister said.

Yesterday, several trade unionists also lauded the contributions by Mr. Pollydore (who was born on November 8, 1908) over the years in his fight for workers' rights and protection.

Former President and now Consultant of the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU), Mr. Leslie Melville, in bemoaning the passing of his friend and mentor, gave the assurance that every effort will be made by the trade union movement in Guyana to ensure that the memory of Pollydore is kept alive.

"We have lost not only a great trade unionist but a great Guyanese and a great West Indian...our movement mourns his loss," Melville told a news conference yesterday in the Boardroom of the Critchlow Labour College, Thomas Lands, Georgetown.

Trade unionists visiting Mr. Pollydore at his home in March 2000.
According to Melville, 'Comrade Pollydore', as he preferred to be called and not `Bro. Pollydore', served the trade union movement with distinction for a period of 61 unbroken years.

"It can be said of him that on his election to the General Secretaryship of the then British Guiana Trades Union Council in 1962, he assumed the mantle carried by the Founder of our trade union movement, Hubert Nathaniel Critchlow, for fifty years," Melville said.

According to him, history will undoubtedly attest that Critchlow's mantle could not have been passed into safer and better hands.

Melville also recalled that prior to Pollydore's resignation as General Secretary of the now Guyana Trades Union Congress in February 1999, he was without doubt the "doyen of our local trades union movement, and as I and many would claim, the doyen of the Caribbean labour movement".

He noted, too, that `Comrade Pollydore' in the early 1970s was dubbed the 'Caribbean Fox' by then Prime Minister of Guyana, the late Mr. Forbes Burnham.

"The term was not used in its derogatory form, but as an attestation of Pollydore's skill and craftiness when at the bargaining table. Like the skilled poker player, it was always difficult to determine what would have been his next move," Melville recalled.

He also said that Pollydore obviously subscribed to the credo of Critchlow - "Don't agitate, let's negotiate".

"Many have argued that the former General Secretary too often sought to compromise when there was no need for a compromise. Yet, even they would admit that the course of action he advocated was seldom ever proven wrong," the trade unionist said.

"It can be said, that while the late General Secretary spent the greater part of his life in our capital, Georgetown, he was by heart, still a country boy, a progeny of the Mahaicony district," Melville said.

According to him, agriculture was Pollydore's second love and up to a few years ago he pursued that love on a farming plot of land at Craig, East Bank Demerara.

Melville also said that it was Pollydore's belief that the future of the country "lies in the unity of the two major political parties".

His presentation on behalf of the TUC to the Constitution Commission in 1979 attested to that belief, Melville recalled.

Mr. Komal Chand of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), said Pollydore made a momentous contribution to the trade union movement in Guyana and was able to hold the GTUC together in the problem days, especially in the 1980's when it was threatened with fragmentation.

"He had this tremendous ability to read the labour situations and to be able to have a comprehensive understanding of the labour situation at different periods when he was the General Secretary of the TUC and that was very important," he said.

"One can say that his contribution to the trade union movement not only assisted in having the TUC intact up to the time he held office, but he has made an important contribution to workers across the board because of his stance on many issues," Chand added.

He also recalled that on sensitive issues that GAWU represented at the TUC, Pollydore always took a "principled approach and one which did not allow politics to have him take a partisan approach during those discussions".

Said Chand: "His contribution assisted workers across the board. He has lived a long and useful life and his passing has indeed marked the end of a man who has made a very significant contribution to the labour movement and he would be considered in the category of many great Caribbean trade unionists who have done so much for the development of workers' struggles, protecting workers' rights and giving leadership. Pollydore would certainly be at the top of such a list."

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Public Service and former General Secretary of NAACIE (National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees), Dr. Nanda Kishore Gopaul, told the Chronicle that the death of Mr. Pollydore must remind those in the trade union movement of the sterling contribution made by someone who, while opposed to policies of the Government, made his position known in a manner that allowed for dialogue and peaceful resolutions of disagreements.

Gopaul said this quality is missing today in the labour movement and it is important that "as we mourn the loss of someone who has given more than half a century of his life in public office, we should reflect on his work of building unity and championing the cause of the workers while at the same time, not losing sight of issues concerning national development."

Gopaul, who said he had more than 25 years of association with Mr. Pollydore, noted that there were times when his union NAACIE and several others accused him of not fighting workers' issues in a more militant fashion.

But to his credit, Pollydore was always able, at the highest decision making forum of the workers - the TUC Congress - to be able to hold the trade union movement together while at the same time articulating decisions which will have a positive impact on the workers, he said.

"There were times when I felt that Pollydore wanted to be more aggressive in articulating the concerns of workers but very often he did not receive the full backing of his colleagues and very often he would take the middle road which is a compromise position to accommodate the views of everyone, especially the major players."

Gopaul also noted that Pollydore's positions often struck him and one such time was in 1979 when he started to be forthright in his criticisms of the government on certain issues affecting workers.

Trade unionist, Mr. Carvil Duncan was also full of praise for the sterling contributions made by Pollydore during his illustrious career in moulding the trade union movement.

"We are here today not on one of the occasions when we gathered as normal. Today it is not normal, because one who has served the trade union movement for the greater part of his life has departed," Duncan told the news conference.

General Secretary of the GTUC, Mr. Lincoln Lewis noted that the top brass of the body met in caucus yesterday morning to work out funeral arrangements for the veteran trade unionist.

According to him, it is the view of the movement that Pollydore should be buried at the Seven Ponds - Place of Heroes in the Botanical Gardens, Georgetown. He said the GTUC has already made contact with the Government on this request.