Vincent Morrison, President Of UCASE - A Builder of The Trade Union Movement

Vincent Morrison, CD

Where He Is Coming From

On February 2, 1949, Reginald Morrison and his wife Maizie both Manchesterians became the proud parents of a son Vincent Uriah Morrison. No one in the quiet, peaceful farming community of Endeavour knew that one among them of humble birth would one day achieve unparalled greatness in the Trade Union Movement and Nation building.

His Education

Young Morrison was educated at the Mile Gully Primary School in Manchester and later at the Swallowfield All Age School in Kingston. He received his secondary training at Warren Hall High School between 1963 and 1968. While at Warren Hall High School, he successfully completed his 'O' and 'A' level Programmes, serving as Head Boy for two (2) years. In sports, he captained both the school Cricket and Football teams. He next attended St. Georges Extension School and the Extra Mural Department - University of the West Indies. Having taught at Warren Hall for one year, young Morrison made his first leap in the field of Trade Unionism when he joined the staff of the National Workers Union on April 14, 1969. In less than one year - 1970, he was awarded a scholarship to study Labour Economics and Industrial Relations at the Labour College, Montreal, Canada. Not satisfied with the vast knowledge and experience gained at the Montreal University, he pursued a similar programme at Oxford University in 1976.

The Trade Union Movement

In pursuit of his purpose, Vincent Morrison has been involved in all aspects of the National Workers Union operations since his employment in 1969. His rise in the NWC has been meteoric, moving from Junior Organizer to Regional Officer, negotiating officer, assistant island supervisor and ultimately, Island Supervisor in March 1993. It is interesting to note that besides being elected a Vice President in 1984, Mr. Vincent Morrison served as Financial Secretary and Trustee of the NWU. There was no stopping this very humble, compassionate and caring Jamaican as he also served as President of the Union of Clerical Administrative Supervisory Employees (UCASE), the white-collar arm of the NWU during the period 1984 to 2003.

Mr. Morrison's clarion call to top leadership came on September 30, 2006 when he was elected President of the National Workers Union having served as Vice President for over twenty (20) years. He was indeed the longest continuous serving Vice President in the history of the NWU.

In 1994, he was honoured by the St. Catherine Parish Council for outstanding service to the Trade Union Movement. Four (4) years _later — 1998, Mr. Morrison was awarded the Commander of the Order of Distinction (C.D.), Commander Class by the Government of Jamaica.

His Social Work

The position of Island Supervisor puts Mr. Morrison in charge of all Industrial Relations matters pertaining to the NWU, and over the years he has been the Union's spokesman for the Bauxite and Alumina Sector, Petroleum Sector, Sugar Industry and the Security Guard Industry, among other things. He served as a member of the Public Sector MOU Steering Committee. Mr. Morrison's insatiable appetite for hard work, maturity, mental toughness, vision for the movement, his decisive and calm industrial relations intellect has caused him to stand out as one of our young, brilliant trade union leaders destined to take the movement into the new millennium. Respect and demeanour for his colleagues and the workers he represented and even those who opposed him has endeared him to all. In addition to his position and work in the union, Mr. Morrison also finds time to do social work, especially among youths and the elderly:

• Community work - He also served as the President of the Three Oaks Gardens Citizens Association.
• Education Work - He is the founding Chairman ofthe Board of Governance of the St. Joseph's
• High School - a position he has held since 1969. He has served as a Director of the following
• Boards - Mile Gully High School; 
• National Workers Union Caymanas Basic School
• National, Investment Bank of Jamaica
• Sugar Industry Housing Limited
• Sugar Industry Authority 
• Joint Trade Union Research Development Centre
• Jamaica Printing Service (1995) Limited
• Canadian Farm Workers Programme
• United States Farm Workers Management Committee
• Trustee Sugar Workers Pension Scheme
• Trustee Port Workers Superannuation Scheme
• All-Island Jamaica Cane Farmers Pension and Group Life Scheme; Petrojam Jamaica Limited; National Insurance Fund (with assets over 50 billion dollars.)
• Sugar Company of Jamaica (SCJ)
• Member of the West Indies Central Labour Organization Board (US Farm Workers Programme).

A Sportsman

Mr. Morrison is an avid sports enthusiast having represented the Melboume Cricket Club on winning Senior, Junior and Minor Teams. Mr. Morrison is a member of the General Executive Council of the Peoples National Party, he is married and is the father of three children — Keisha, Kirk and Kevin. His hobbies include Cricket, Football, Politics and Travelling.

His Work At The NWU

Over the years, Mr. Morrison has represented the NWU at several national and international conferences in the Caribbean, Europe and North America. Mr. Morrison continues to give outstanding service to the Trade Union Movement through hard work, dedication and commitment towards the social and economic upliftment of the working class. Mr. Morrison list among others as his most outstanding accomplishment, the setting up of the Jamaica Printing Services Limited the only 100% employees share ownership programme in Jamaica and the establishment in 1978 of the NWU Caymanas Basic School which presently has an enrolment of over sixty (60) students.

His Achievements

In closing, what more can be said about this great son of endeavor — Mile Gully, Manchester. The awesomeness of Mr. Vincent Morrison's Performance in the Trade Union Movement is rendered inconceivably grand when examined within the context of the standings of the Union and the kind of society that existed when he joined the NWU in April 1969. The actions that led to the results of the February 21, 1967 General Election created a country with the most contradictory tendencies and antagonistic movement openly at work, side by side or against one another, enlightenment and stupid bigotry, good citizenship and lawlessness, benevolent and openhanded public spirit and rapacious greed, independent spirit and subservience to party despotism and to predominant public opinion - all this in bewildering confusion.

Vincent Morrison realizing the challenging nature of his entry into the Trade Union Movement drew on his inner strength having being endowed with two (2) gifts — utter self-abnegation and utter patience, gifts clearly linked - for the man who thinks self-interest cannot be patient. Young Morrison remained undaunted knowing very well that by hard work and a team with a unity of purpose, God in his good time would give them the rightful results.

There can be no doubt Vincent Morrison achievement April 1969 to April 2014 is based on his true understanding of democracy. To him, democracy is a process, an unending struggle, a hard grueling battle. Its best benefits are not the easy garland found on arrival at a superior Trade Union position. They are the toughness, heroic constancy, the stamina developed during the desperate climb upwards on behalf of the Jamaican Workers. I can say without fear of contradiction that our beloved country is still blessed with men and women who are exponents of democracy in an arena in which good has a free field against evil and in which people are made great by the fact that they can achieve progress, not as the gifts of some outside agency but by their own hard struggle. Mr. Vincent Morrison is one such Jamaican. Need I remind my brothers and sisters, that "many are called but few are chosen."

Vincent Morrison stands out as a shining light in the Trade Union Movement "Excellence Personified." Let us all strive to be statesmen like this great son of the soil who firmly believed in God's holy word as spoken by his prophet Micah chapter 6:8 — "Do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with your God."