Selwyn John remembered as fearless champion of the working class

FORMER Senator and president general of the National Union of Government and Federated Workers (NUGFW) Selwyn John was remembered as a fearless, tireless, and selfless champion of the working class.

John died earlier in the week at the age of 84. He is survived by his wife Ena and daughters, Arlene Ramsaran and Lydia John. His only son, Dr Russel John died under tragic circumstances. His body was cremated at the Belgroves Funeral Home, Tacarigua.

In a sermon at John’s funeral service at Lee’s Funeral Home, St Augustine on Saturday, Presbyterian minister Rev Daniel Teelucksingh said the working class has many levels.

“Selwyn John was very concerned about the lowest level and he sat among them, identified with them, unconditionally, and walked with them.

“They elected him over and over again,” Rev Teelucksingh said as a demonstration that, “the working class trusted him in all their struggles, their whole life and future. “

“He will always be remembered as a treasure to the labour movement.”

While he served as a Senator, Teelucksingh who also served in the Senate, said John was never a politician.

“His business was not the business of the party that elected him to the Parliament, his calling was with the workers.”

Teelucksingh said John, whom he knew for over 20 years when he went to preach at the San Juan Presbyterian Church, said he had some unforgettable qualities.

“He was a matter-of-fact person, practical, grass roots person, that’s why I liked that boy.

“There was no deceit in him and there was transparency when he spoke to you. What ever he had to say, either in the Senate or in the trade union, he said it. He had no hidden agenda.”

When it came to his family, Teelucksingh described him as a family man par excellence.

“The most challenging time of his life when his son Russel was cruelly taken from him and he lost his darling grand-daughter, Schmita Ramsaran, he remained strong for his family.

“He was a man who was acquainted with grief, but he never lost his faith in God, in his wife or daughters. In that family partnership, that man who sleeps today found the miracle to survive. Today we say thank God Selwyn John passed our way.”

As she bade farewell to her dad, Lydia said he transcended script, space and time. In his 84 years, she said he experienced so many different aspects of life that he appreciated people’s differences and others whose outlook tended to be more conservative.

He was baptised in the Anglican faith, attended a Roman Catholic school where he was served as an acolyte, attended a Vedic Hindu School and later became a member of the Presbyterian community.

“He had friends of all backgrounds, faiths and belief and could walk with leaders and kings while keeping his feet on the ground finding this true passion to help the downtrodden, those in need.”

Lydia said in spite of his limited educational opportunities as a boy, he had a keen mind and a desire to excel. She said he worked to help his mother and younger siblings and defied all odds to gain a scholarship to the Canadian Labour College and receive education at some of the best institutions in the UK, USA and Switzerland through his involvement in the trade union movement.

She said at around age 15 he joined the NUFGW as a cleaner and messenger and 50 years later retired as president general of the union.

In between she said, he had many achievements, but the greatest achievement was being a family man.

"I was fascinated that daddy could be this fierce warrior, fighting tooth and nail for the victimised and disenfranchised and that same man with the lion’s raw at the union would melt at the sight of his wife, children and grand children

“He was a lion and lamb in equal parts. The gentlest of gentlemen, and the shrewdest and strongest crusader. He wast he one constant stabaliser in any situation. He was a natural patriarch.”