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Last Updated on Monday, 3 June 2024, 19:15 by Writer
Dr Anwar Hussain
Former firebrand trade unionist with the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU), medical doctor Anwar Hussein has died, his employer, the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) said on Monday.
The NIS described Dr Hussain, its Medical Advisor, as someone who was “an invaluable part of our organization, whose dedication and commitment left a lasting impact on all who worked with him.”
He was 66 years old.
Dr Hussain, then the GPSU’s 2nd Vice President, had been a prominent face of the 1999 strike which had lasted 57 days and yielded the award of hefty salary increases by an arbitration tribunal.
Attorney-at-Law Chandrawattie Persaud, who is a former General Secretary of the GPSU and nurse, remembered Dr Hussain as someone who was deeply interested in workers’ welfare. “Dr Hussain was also a fighter for the rights of workers. Anything that benefitted workers, he always wanted to ensure that they get their benefits. What is due to them must go to them and that was one of the things that he always fought for. He always stood his ground for what was in the best interest of workers,” she told Demerara Waves Online News.
Dr Hussain started his career in the health sector as a laboratory technician before going on to study medicine in Cuba. On his return, he served at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation for several years.