“I served fearlessly and I was very vocal on issues that affected my fellow workers. I did not compromise for one moment what rights a worker should get. I stood up for what I believed was right and that’s how I built a reputation within the trade union movement.”By Leon Suseran It was veteran trade unionist,Wholesale Jerseys, Mr. Norman Semple, who, while visiting the Port Mourant Hospital several decades ago, noticed an ordinary, young porter and saw what no one else saw—a talented, promising, trade unionist in the making. From that day, Semple nurtured Ram Mangru and shaped him into the vocal, outspoken and dedicated representative of public servants in Guyana — Berbice more particularly.Ram MangruToday,Wholesale NFL Jerseys, Mangru is the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU)’s senior representative for Regions 5 and 6 and to date, he has given more than 37 years to the trade union movement in this country.Mangru has been a fearless voice throughout his career, regardless of the government of the day. He played an important role in mobilizing workers during the 60-day strike in Berbice in 1999.He was born at Bound Yard, Port Mourant, on February 9, 1949 to Plantation Immigrants, Mangru and Bhudnie. Bound Yard, as the name states, was a slum area with logies where East Indian immigrants and labourers were essentially “bound to live the rest of their lives”.Mangru reflected on life in those simple days, where the toilets were built over trenches.“Life in Bound Yard was quiet, and people used to live in logies and estate shacks…The place was not properly developed.”Living conditions were deplorable; as a result, the residents were forced to move to Tain Settlement not too far away. This was mandated by the sanitary inspectors who deplored the surroundings of Bound Yard.Ram Mangru attended Tain Primary School after which he attended Corentyne Comprehensive High and attained 3 subjects at the GCE ‘O’ Level in 1968. Due to the tough times and not being able to acquire jobs, young Ram then joined the Johns/Port Mourant Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) as a Clerk (earning $70 per month),Cheap NFL Jerseys China, and spent two years there. He then started to work at the Port Mourant Hospital as a porter, where his pay more than doubled ($160 per month). It was there where his trade union skills were recognized and he was asked to build and nurture these skills.He recalled a visit to the hospital one day to attend a union meeting in 1976 by then President of the union, Mr. Norman Semple.“He spotted me as being a talented person so he advised his other colleagues to expose me to training.”Mangru said that Semple told him that he could make a great contribution to the trade union. He was then exposed to a plethora of training initiatives in the areas of shop steward, rank and file, and Branch Officer.“I was trained in various leadership seminars from time to time and while I was in the movement then at the hospital. I became a member of the People’s National Congress (PNC) and continued with my trade union activities, being very active at the branch levels.Mr. Semple was a mentor to me and he actually put me into the limelight. He has done a great favour to me and spotted me with the talent.”Our ‘Special Person’ with GPSU Berbice Office Assistant, Ms. Brenda PierreMangru added that the “talent” included speaking out for workers’ rights, “…and you speak out for the wrong things you see happening, because in those days, in the ‘70s, things were not as good as we would have liked them to be, and being in that calibre, he (Semple) recognized it.”Mangru received training at the old GPSU office in Berbice where he participated in seminars. He also attended Georgetown training in Industrial Relations, etc., from 1975 onwards.“So it was a continuous thing—year after year—because the union in those days used to be spending more money on educating its members and as long as they recognized you had the potential to make contributions, and they spotted you, they exposed you to more training.”Mangru grew in popularity among his peers in the trade union through the years. He also recounted fondly that current President of the Guyana Public Service Union, Mr. Patrick Yarde, too, recognized his abilities and “he exposed me to more training.”“In 1993, during the GPSU Elections for the Executive Council, I took his advice and ran in the elections on the slate and was elected Committee Member and I served in the Executive Council from then to the present.”“I served fearlessly and I was very vocal on issues that affected my fellow workers. I did not compromise for one moment what rights a worker should get. I stood up for what I believed was right and that’s how I built a reputation within the trade union movement.Being in the Executive, I was able to be in a more leadersh