Helene Davis-Whyte

Last updated

Helene Davis-Whyte (born 1956) is a Jamaican trade union activist and the general secretary of the Jamaica Association of Local Government Officers (JALGO), which represents 5,000 workers in local and national government and quasi-government agencies in Jamaica. She is also a vice-president of the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions.

Contents

Early life

Helene Davis was one of four children. Her father was a businessman, and she says her childhood was a prosperous and happy one. She attended Queens High School in Kingston. But while in her Sixth form, her father's business began to fail. She dropped out of school to go to work and support the family. "Sometimes I left home without breakfast; I never had the lunch money and when I got home, I was not sure that I would see dinner," she has said. [1]

She had her first child at the age of 19. Although unmarried, she moved in with a sister (who was also a single parent) to make ends meet. [1]

In 1995 she married Frederick Whyte, a former commissioner of the Jamaica Fire Brigade, and had a second child. [1]

Union career

In the early 1980s Davis-Whyte worked at the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation. "I was probably one of the most anti-union persons" working in local government, she admitted. But when a new mayor promised to lay off members of her department, she and other workers decided to ask for JALGO's assistance. During a meeting with then-general secretary E. Lloyd Taylor, Davis-Whyte became the speaker for the group. Her co-workers were so impressed with her representation of their issues that they elected her a delegate to JALGO, and she became increasingly involved in union work. [1]

Davis-Whyte was elected vice-president of JALGO's Municipal Branch, and in 1984 was elected the national union's education officer. [1] In 1995, after Taylor's retirement, she was elected general secretary (the union's highest office), and was re-elected in 1998, 2001 and 2004. [1] [2] Her nomination was a tumultuous one, and nearly caused a riot on the convention floor. [2]

During her tenure as union leader, Davis-Whyte has opposed the flexible work-week for reducing workers' hours, [3] pushed for reorganization of public welfare services, [4] and urged a collaborative approach to policy making in which unions would participate in commissions, boards and advisory bodies in order to alleviate the impact of austerity measures. [5]

Education

Helene Davis-Whyte holds an associate degree in business studies and professional certificates in trade union studies and labour economics. [1]

She received a Bachelor of Science degree in human resource management from the University College of the Caribbean (UCC) in 2006. [6]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Rose, "Helene Davis-Whyte – Enjoying the Union," Jamaica Gleaner, 7 August 2007.
  2. 1 2 Bell, "Women in the Trade Union Movement," Jamaica Gleaner, 18 August 2002.
  3. ↑ "Unions Boycott Meeting," Jamaica Gleaner, 14 August 2000.
  4. ↑ "Poor Relief Depts' Reorganisation Delayed," Jamaica Gleaner, 21 March 2000.
  5. ↑ Jackson Miller, "Labor-Jamaica: Mounting Debts Mean A Bleak Outlook," Inter Press Service, 6 January 2003.
  6. ↑ McCatty, "200 Graduate From UCC," Jamaica Observer, 12 June 2005.

Related Research Articles

Michael Manley 4th Prime Minister of Jamaica

Michael Norman Manley ON OCC was a Jamaican politician who served as the fourth Prime Minister of Jamaica from 1972 to 1980 and from 1989 to 1992. Manley championed a democratic socialist program, and has been described as a populist. According to opinion polls, he remains one of Jamaica's most popular prime ministers.

Peoples National Party Jamaican centre-left political party

The People's National Party (PNP) is a social-democratic political party in Jamaica, founded in 1938 by independence campaigner Osmond Theodore Fairclough. It holds 14 of the 63 seats in the House of Representatives, as 96 of the 227 local government divisions. The party is democratic socialist by constitution.

Alexander Bustamante Jamaican politician and labour leader

Sir William Alexander Clarke Bustamante was a Jamaican politician and labour leader, who, in 1962, became the first prime minister of Jamaica.

Florizel Glasspole Jamaican politician (1909-2000)

Sir Florizel Augustus Glasspole, ON, GCMG, GCVO, CD, was the third and longest-serving Governor-General of Jamaica, in office from 1973 to 1991.

Portia Simpson-Miller Jamaican politician

Portia Lucretia Simpson-Miller is a Jamaican politician. She served as Prime Minister of Jamaica from March 2006 to September 2007 and again from 5 January 2012 to 3 March 2016. She was the leader of the People's National Party from 2005 to 2017 and the Leader of the Opposition twice, from 2007 to 2012 and from 2016 to 2017. She is the first Jamaican prime minister to support same-sex marriage.

The Jamaica Association of Local Government Officers (JALGO) is a 5,000-member public sector trade union in Jamaica which represents workers in local and national government, governmental corporations, quasi-government bodies and other agencies created by statute. Its members are non-supervisory personnel and include fire-fighters with the Jamaica Fire Brigade, workers at the National Water Commission, non-nursing personnel in the health service, non-teachers in the schools, workers at the National Irrigation Commission and government employees in the 13 Parish Councils.

Gladys Maud, Lady Bustamante, OJ was a Jamaican workers' and women's rights activist and wife of Sir Alexander Bustamante, Jamaica's first Prime Minister. She was a prominent member of the Jamaican trade union movement, and was affectionately known as "Lady B".

Fayval Williams

Fayval Shirley Williams is a Jamaican politician who is the Minister of Education, Youth and Information and the Member of Parliament for the St Andrew Eastern constituency. Williams had previously been the minister in the Ministry of Science, Energy and Technology as well as the minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service. She is the first female to be a minister in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, and also the first female minister of science, energy and technology. In June 2014, Fayval Williams was named as a member of the Jamaica Labour Party's Economic Advisory Council.

Amy Bailey

Amy Bailey OJ, OD, OBE, MBE was a Jamaican educator, social worker and women's rights advocate. She was a co-founder of the Jamaican aid organization Save the Children and was the driving force behind the drive for introducing birth control to the island. She received many honours and awards in her career, including the Order of the British Empire, the Jamaican Order of Distinction and the Marcus Garvey Award for Excellence in 1988. In 1990, shortly before her death, she was honoured with the Order of Jamaica.

Anne Liburd Kittitian women’s rights activist (1920–2007)

Anne LiburdMBE (1920–2007) also known as Ann Liburd was a Kittitian women’s rights activist and community organizer. She served as president of the National Council of Women in St. Kitts and was the first and then three-time president of the Caribbean Women’s Association. She headed several programs to develop women's entrepreneurial skills and then served as the first president of the Federation of Labour Women, a political affiliation of the Saint Kitts and Nevis Labour Party to help women gain leadership and communication skills.

Maria Ziadie-Haddad is an airline pilot from Jamaica. She was the first woman commercial pilot hired by Air Jamaica and upon obtaining her qualifications as a captain became Air Jamaica's first woman captain. When the government divested its holding in the firm, Ziadie Haddad began flying commercial freight in the United States.

Mary Morris Knibb

Mary Morris Knibb, MBE was a Jamaican teacher, social reformer and philanthropist. She founded the Morris Knibb Preparatory School and donated a building which is used as the headquarters of the Moravian Church in Jamaica as well as land for construction of a community center. Morris Knibb was a women's rights activist and the first elected councilwomen in Jamaica. She was the first woman to vie for a seat in the House when Universal Suffrage was granted to all Jamaicans.

Maymie de Mena American activist

Maymie de Mena was an American-born activist who became one of the highest-ranking officers in the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). She has been credited with keeping the organization alive after Marcus Garvey's conviction for mail fraud and deportation from the United States.

Heather Little-White

Heather Little-White was a Jamaican nutritionist, journalist and disabilities activist. After earning degrees in nutrition and communication, she worked with Grace Kitchens and founded the television program Creative Cooking to share sound nutritional advice throughout the country. As a journalist, besides writing articles on nutrition, she wrote a weekly column on sexuality for the Outlook Magazine segment of The Gleaner newspaper. After working with the Reggae Boyz, Jamaica's national football team, as a nutrition consultant, Little-White became paralyzed from the waist down after being shot during a robbery attempt. Becoming an advocate for people with disabilities, she focused on bringing awareness, accessibility, and assistance to Jamaicans living with disabilities. She was honored as an officer in the Order of Distinction in 2001.

Ivy Joshua Saint Vincent and the Grenadines politician and trade unionist

Ivy Inez Joshua was a Grenadian-born seamstress and politician, who was the first woman elected to serve in the Legislative Council of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines when universal suffrage was granted. Though she won her seat in six consecutive election cycles, with a substantial majority each time she ran, Joshua was often the target of politically-based inquiries and investigations. She served in the legislature from 1958 to 1979 and simultaneously on the Executive Council from 1960 when she was appointed as the Minister of Social Services. Joshua served from 1961 to 1964 and again from 1967 to 1972 as a Minister without portfolio, before being appointed as Parliamentary Secretary and later Leader of the Opposition.

Gema Ramkeesoon

Gema Ramkeesoon was a Trinidadian and Tobagonian social worker and women's rights activist who was one of the early pioneers of the women's movement in Trinidad and Tobago. She was honored for her social service work as a member of the Order of the British Empire in 1950 and received the gold Hummingbird Medal from Trinidad and Tobago in 1976.

Edris Allan

Edris Elaine Allan was a Jamaican community worker, political figure and women's rights advocate. From childhood, she performed community service and worked as a clerk in several retail establishments prior to her marriage. She was the first telephone operator for the Jamaica All Island Telephone Service. As the wife of Sir Harold Allan, honored with the first knighthood bestowed on a Jamaican of African descent by the British crown, she became an instant celebrity, traveling often with her husband and serving as his secretary. A founding member of the Jamaica Federation of Women (JFW), she held many offices in the organization including serving as chair from 1959 to 1962 and again from 1971 to 1976, and then president from 1976 until her death in 1995.

Harold Egbert Allan Jamaican politician, legislator and statesman

Sir Harold Egbert Allan was a Jamaican politician, legislator and statesman.

Patsy Blair Robertson was a Jamaican journalist and diplomat, who was Director of Information at the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Official Spokesperson for The Commonwealth from 1983 to 1994. She played a significant role in conjunction with Sir Shridath "Sonny" Ramphal, the Commonwealth's second Secretary-General, in that organisation's long battle against apartheid in South Africa. She later served with UNICEF, the UN, and as founding Chair of the Ramphal Institute, a London-based not-for-profit organization with a mission to advance knowledge and research in such areas of policy as development, education and environmental issues.

Royal tours of Jamaica by the Jamaican Royal Family have been taking place since the 20th century. The Queen of Jamaica, Elizabeth II, has visited the island six times; in 1953, 1966, 1975, 1983, 1994, and 2002. Other members of the Royal Family have also paid visits.

References

Preceded by President, Jamaica Association of Local Government Officers
1995 – Present		Succeeded by
Incumbent
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.