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CTUSAB Lifetime Award Recipient 2008 - Joseph Evan Goddard |
Bro. Goddard has worked at a variety of jobs starting out as a student nurse in the UK in 1963. He returned to Barbados in November 1972. After working briefly with the Barbados Ministry of Education, Bro. Goddard joined the National Union of Public Workers as Assistant General Secretary in 1973 and has held the post of General Secretary from April 1977 until the time of his retirement.
In 1982, Bro. Goddard was elected General Secretary of the Caribbean Public Services Association, a confederation of 15 Public Sector trade unions located as far North as Bermuda, Bahamas and Belize and stretching South to Guyana on the mainland of South America. He was unanimously re-elected to that office in 1985, 1988, 1991 and 1994. In 1997 he declined the re-election.
Between 1993 and 1997 Bro. Goddard served as Titular Member for the Caribbean Region on the Executive Committee of Public Services International (PSI) and was also a member of PSI's Regional Advisory Committee for Inter-America (IAMRAC). In addition, he served as a member of the PSI's Public Sector Working Group until December 2005. From 1994 to 1997 he served as a Vice President of the Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations of Barbados (CTUSAB).
Bro. Goddard formerly served as an Executive Board Member of the Grantley Adams International Airport Inc. He was a longstanding member of the Board of the Barbados National Productivity Council and the National Insurance Board. He is a serving as a Trustee of the Caribbean Congress of Labour (CCL). Bro. Goddard has written a 48 page monograph titled: 'The Role of the Trade Union in the Causation of Inflation in the English Speaking Caribbean". In addition he authored a Project Paper — 'Industrial Relations in the Public Sector of Barbados'. He was also responsible for the CPSA monograph entitled: 'Twenty-one Years of Public Service'.
A household name, Bro. Goddard has made an immeasurable contribution to the labour movement in Barbados. He has transformed the NUPW from an institution concerned only with matters relating to salaries and conditions of service, to a viable entity engaging the social partners in issues wide and varied. He has participated as the Public Sector union representative at national consultations and has been pivotal in ensuring that the Public Sector unions are respected and included in all decision- making exercises.
Across the region Bro. Goddard is renowned for his efforts to reform the Public Sector unions and to bring unity between the small unions in the several members of the movement. He has assisted unions across the region but his work in St Lucia and Anguilla is worthy of special mention.
The 7th Biennial Delegates Conference of the CTUSAB recognizes the sterling contribution of Bro. Goddard to the cause of labour at the local, regional and international levels.
I now invite Senator The Hon. Arni Walters, Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office, to present the 'CTUSAB Lifetime Award' to Bro. Joseph Goddard.
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