Renowned Guyanese trade unionist Ann Anderson died on Tuesday following a brief period of illness.
At the time of her death, Anderson was 51 years and was the General Secretary of the Clerical and Commercial Workers Union (CCWU). She was the first female to hold that position after joining trade unionism in 2005.
Ann Anderson
Upon her appointment as General Secretary, Anderson had vowed to attract more women into the movement. She wanted to expand the Union’s organisational drive, targeting non-traditional workers and the self-employed including taxi drivers, and grouping them so that they could be represented.
A few months shy of one year after her appointment in 2009, Anderson led an exercise that picketed the Pegasus Hotel over management’s “union busting” tactics. At the time, the Hotel had 52 staffers who were represented by the CCWU and Anderson had stated that the owner, Robert Badal, did not want workers of the Hotel unionised.
Anderson was also the Caribbean Regional Coordinator of the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) at the time of her death. Her untimely passing comes as she was to attend the first ITF meeting on March 16, 2018 in Argentina.
