Presentation by GAWU President, Komal Chand at Memorial Service for Cde Janet Jagan at Freedom House

In paying tribute to Cde Janet Jagan, we do so by recognizing the principles, the ideals and values she personified, advocated and struggled for.

Those qualities which she represented are more relevant today when humankind are facing grim realities and live in troubled and dangerous times. As we gather here we are well aware of the economic crisis that has engulfed the world. Bankruptcies are the order of the day, governments fall or are threatened, tens of millions of workers are put on the streets with starvation haunting them and their families, millions more are forced from their homes into tent cities. Wars in several locations rain down devastation and destruction, killing tens of thousands of civilians. And ecological problems stand menacingly ready to wreck greater damage to civilization than they have already done.

When Cde Janet Jagan was 9 years old, growing up in Chicago, an almost similar crisis gripped the USA and the world. That crisis then led to World War II. Thus, she experienced the disaster of economic crisis and war’s horrors first hand at an early age of her rich and full life.

It is ironic, that as we bid her farewell at this time, the world is again gripped in a crisis she experienced in her youth. And this emphasises the relevance of her ideals and examples of struggles that makes her so outstanding among her peers, men and women alike.

Like her husband, our Leader, Cde Cheddi Jagan, she too held the view that the dominant world order needs to be changed to one where social justice prevailed and the working man can enjoy the full benefits of his labour and civilization.

Their works reveal that these were early convictions of Cdes Janet and Cheddi along with several others who struggled on behalf of and with the working people of Guyana and who literally revolutionalised our politics.

These convictions for social justice and deep-going change, I contend, were at the centre of the rich and selfless struggles they relentlessly pursued when they came to Guyana.

Freedom from colonial bondage was the first step along the long and arduous struggle for change. That struggle of these outstanding freedom-fighters, notably, was intertwined with the struggles and efforts to lift Guyanese workers and farmers from the pits of misery and injustices that the colonial relationships had condemned them to. They met with successes on both counts and subsequent generations will be grateful to these leaders, including Cde Janet Jagan, who took on the no-easy challenge of confronting colonialism to ensure our freedom and dignity as a people. Is it not ironic, but NOT surprising that the Western world with their challenged economies, are concerned about the relevance of socialism.

Today, our challenge is to protect that freedom from encroaching attempts to undermine it. Our working people conditions have significantly improved to those that existed in the 40’s and 50’s and the fight for greater improvements is on-going, though with notable successes under the PPP/Civic administration.

Cde Janet Jagan displayed a bias towards the working class throughout her life. This, no doubt, was in keeping with her ideals. Her working class feelings ran as deep as her feelings for the impoverished. What she taught us, along with her colleagues-in-arms, is the path out of our deprivations and exploitation – the path of organization and struggle. Her life was enmeshed with that of the working class. She was active in several trade unions and took part in many battles of that segment of the Guyanese population.

Her most memorable activist role for us in the Guyana Agricultural & General Workers’ Union, was the outstanding and leadership part she played in the history making workers’ struggle in Enmore in 1948. In that battle she displayed courage under fire, a recognized quality of hers, and along with other members of the Political Affairs Committee, gave able leadership in a workers’ struggle that was to impact on our history and ever since changed the dynamics of our politics.

The workers who fell in that struggle we celebrate nationally today as the Enmore Martyrs. And, Janet Jagan, Cheddi Jagan and others from the Political Affairs Committee, made history in Guyana only after 2 years since their arrival.

It is noteworthy that Cde Janet always attended the wreath-laying activity at the La Repentir Cemetry on June 16th every year to pay respect and tribute to the five (5) martyrs whether it rains or shines but you know it always rains.

At the wreath-laying ceremony of the Enmore Martyrs last June, no other person than Cde Janet reminded us that since 1948, only one year she did not attend and on that occasion she was hospitalized.

Over 60 years separate us from that struggle in Enmore. We remember with a sense of pride and dignity those who heroically fell and we also remember those who went into battle, side-by-side with the workers for workers rights and justice. Janet Jagan was in the forefront of that struggle. In fact there was hardly a moment where she would refuse an invitation to be in a working class gathering. She graced all the conferences of unions like the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) and the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE) and other unions once invited and had the distinct honour of addressing workers at the highest decision making level of their organisations on several occasions.

Cde Janet Jagan never delinked her active interest in the workers cause generally or particularly the sugar workers. In any discussion around the workers demands, her position is clear and predictable – she will side with the workers. For the GAWU, in her was a lifelong friend and supporter. As her performance in politics or in the women’s struggles would show, Cde Janet Jagan did not flinch in taking forthright stands on behalf of the downtrodden, the oppressed, the discriminated and the voiceless. She was an admirable freedom fighter; equally, she was an admirable working class champion. The conditions for nurses, citizens of the Georgetown municipality, Women’s rights – all this is her legacy.

Cde Janet had the distinction of being the Minister of Labour, Health and Housing in the second PPP government in 1957-1961. Even under conditions of colonial rule, she performed exceptionally. Conditions of workers, especially wages improved, likewise health and housing which directly concerned the lives and living standards of our working people. Her stint as Minister is widely recognized as a start of a new beginning that touched the lives of Guyanese and which lifted them out of the atrocious conditions that prevailed in those times.

Through her writings and deeds Cde Janet Jagan made a sterling contribution in awakening in us as Guyanese, our rights and kindled in us a vision of a better tomorrow and a world founded upon pillars different to those of today. The qualities she espoused and demonstrated, I daresay, are the qualities we in Guyana, and indeed the world over, need to emulate. In essence, this is the path of organization and struggle, endurance and commitment, integrity and principles.
Cde Janet has had to contend with vilification from several quarters for her audacious efforts on behalf of our working people. But, the strength of her convictions made her undaunted. She leaves us physically today with her head held high, her fighting spirit unbroken and ten feet tall.

It is well to recall, that history is filled with examples of genuine fighters of peoples causes, freedom and change who have always been vilified, smeared, ostracized, imprisoned and treated disparagingly, but in the end, they and their causes triumphed. Cde Janet can rest with a clear conscience and in peace. She not only ascended to the highest position of the land – the Presidency, but will be remembered for all she did by the people she inspired in the organizations she worked or was associated with.

Cde Janet was an ordinary person – easy to talk to, affable, helpful and modest, never boastful yet firm in her beliefs and a fierce fighter in defense of her Party, the People’s Progressive Party and the working people.

Though ordinary, her exploits were extra-ordinary. Her examples tell the story of a life fully and worthily lived. She takes her leave of us now, but her life’s lessons can and certainly guides us as we engage in the continuing struggles to safeguard our gains and win new victories.

Cde Janet, the GAWU, salutes you.

We, as workers will always remember you fondly as a fighter and a comrade.

We march on to fulfill your and our dreams.