“We will miss his wise counsel but we must continue to build on his work so that the workers of Guyana can continue to reap richer rewards,” Culbard said in a message following Pollydore’s death on February 26.

Pollydore, former General Secretary of the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC), served the CCWU as Trustee for many years, only giving up the position last August.

“This great man entered the world three years after the founder of the trade union movement, Hubert Nathaniel Critchlow, led a workers strike on the waterfront. ‘Polly’, as he was fondly called, chose to follow Critchlow when he grew up and entered the world of work.

He spent 61 years of his adult life in the service of the workers of Guyana, the Caribbean and further afield. He received several honours locally and internationally for his contribution to labour,” Culbard said in his message.

He recalled Pollydore’s most challenging moment in the labour movement came in 1948 over what later became popularly known as the “Teare Affair”. At the centre of the problem was Colonel Robert V. Teare who arrived in then British Guiana in 1946 and assumed duties as General Manager of the Transport and Harbours Department (T&HD). Colonel Teare, somewhat of a martinet, set about restructuring and re-engineering the T&HD, but he came up against strong resistance from the leadership of the Transport Workers’ Union.

Culbard said Pollydore at that time was new in the post of General Secretary of the Union.

“Colonel Teare’s arrogant approach invited strongly worded letters from Pollydore. The result was that Teare developed a deep animosity to the fearless and independent trade unionist.”

According to Culbard, Teare attempted to thwart the development of the union by transferring the leaders, including Pollydore, from Georgetown to Bartica and Issano with less than 24 hours notice.

“In an act of defiance, the Transport Workers’ Union called a strike to prevent the transfers. The strikers demanded, ‘Teare must go’. Teare eventually left the country,” he noted.

Culbard recalled that the strike action was a tremendous boost to the union. “It led to class-consciousness and solidarity between the ‘white collar’ and ‘blue-collar’ workers; it led to recognition and the check-off system. This union was the first to achieve the check-off in Guyana.”

Pollydore’s career in the local and regional labour movements blossomed in the 1950s. He attended his first ORIT (the hemispheric arm of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions - ICFTU) meeting in Trinidad in 1955.

He became a member of ORIT’s Executive Council in 1959 and a Vice-President in 1980, a position he held until his retirement as General Secretary of the GTUC. He attended ICFTU meetings continuously from 1957 and International Labour Organisations (ILO) meetings in Geneva from 1959.

Pollydore became the President of Federation of Unions of Government Employees (FUGE), a grouping of major unions in British Guiana. It was through this body that he was able to reach the level of General Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of the GTUC.

Culbard said Pollydore “guided the national labour movement through the difficult and revolutionary periods of the 1950s and the challenging 1980s when there were schisms and divisions.”

“The high-handed actions of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) and the People’s National Congress (PNC) alike, threatened trade union autonomy on numerous occasions. Seven unions walked out of a GTUC Delegates’ Conference in 1988 and later formed the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG).

“Pollydore was bothered and devoted much of his time thereafter working towards the reunification of the trade union movement. His efforts were not in vain. The GTUC reunification conference took place in September 1993 under its amended constitution.”

Culbard said the champion trade unionist showed keen interest in education and intellectual pursuits and was ever an inveterate supporter of the Critchlow Labour College (CLC), serving as Secretary of its board since its establishment and until he retired.

Pollydore repeatedly warned trade union leaders that the issue of trade union “independence” should not be confused with “autonomy”. He stressed that emphasis has to be “interdependence” and the trade union must network with its allies, while maintaining its autonomy.

The stalwart and veteran trade unionist received very high honours at home and abroad. In 1966, he received the Officer of the British Empire (OBE) before Guyana became an independent country. In independent Guyana, he first received the Golden Arrow of Achievement (AA), followed by the Cacique Crown of Honour (CCH) in 1980 and the Order of Roraima (OR) in 1990.