“ASHTON CHASE stands among any other, shoulder to shoulder among any leader as a man who has made a tremendous contribution to Guyana,” President Donald Ramotar said last Wednesday evening as Minister of Labour, Dr. Nanda Gopaul launched a biographical work on the iconic trade unionist, politician and legal luminary. The event hosted at the New Building Society, North Road and Avenue of the Republic, coincided with Chase’s birthday.
Mr. Ramotar who wrote the foreword of the work expressed happiness at being associated with the publication, noting that they are very few people alive in our country today that have had such an interesting history and an interesting life as Ashton Chase. He noted that Chase started his public life and representation of oppressed peoples at a very young age, and posited that his life can be used as a role model for young people everywhere as he showed that even though young, a person can shoulder heavy responsibilities.
The President also mentioned this point in the foreword of the work, noting that it should be seen as a source of inspiration to the younger generations as to how they can make a contribution to the development of Guyana and build a just and humane society.
Ramotar stated that throughout his life, Chase demonstrated very strong convictions, and has been a convicted socialist all his life, who stood up at very important junctures in our history; being there at the very beginning of the whole nationalist movement.
The President noted that though there is a debate about who is the father of the nation, that’s not so important; the fact is that Comrade Ashton Chase was there at the very foundation of the Political Affairs Committee (PAC), the forerunner to the Peoples Progressive Party (PPP). As he writes in the foreword of “The Bengal Tiger”, Chase rose from humble beginnings to being one of the four founders of the PAC. The others being Cheddi and Janet Jagan and H.J.M Hubbard (all deceased).  Ramotar added that he had heard late former President Cheddi Jagan say publicly at more than one meeting that had it not been for Ashton Chase’s modesty, the history of this country may have been different, he was supposed to have been the first chairman of the PAC but gave way to Burnham saying he was “a bright guy”.
In the foreword of the book Ramotar describes Chase as being from “that heroic generation which is on the frontline of the struggle for independence and socialism”.
At the launch, he  went on to praise Chase who he had heard speak on a number of occasions for his oratorical skills, also noting that he has never met an orator who is more prepared. Ramotar also pointed his career as a successful lawyer who has won many labour-related cases in Guyana which stand as precedents for others to follow. In fact he described Chase in his commentary in the book as “Guyana’s Premier Labour Lawyer”. He notes that it’s no coincidence that the work has cited numerous labour cases fought and won by Ashton Chase on behalf of Guyanese workers. He cites examples like his fight on behalf of the National Association of Agricultural Commercial and Industrial Employees (NACCIE) against the withdrawal of increments in 1979 and against parliament’s passage of the Labour Ammendment Act of 1984 as landmark cases. In fact he notes that it was the first and only time in Guyana’s history that a piece of legislation passed by the parliament was struck down as being unconstitutional.
He pointed out, both in his foreword and at the launch, that Chase had the distinction of piloting one of the most important labour bills in the National Assembly – the Labour Relations Bill of 1953. This was “an extremely important bill designed to democratis e the labour movement” and make it a strong movement. Though the bill has a major history of its own, Chase was the first to lay it in his position as Minister of Labour in the 1953 government. As long as it is not democratised we will not overcome some of the difficulties that the Trade Union movement is still experiencing.
The author of the work, Dr. Nanda Gopaul is himself a distinguished Trade Unionist having served NAACIE in various positions – Branch Chairman, Executive Council Member, Treasurer, General Secretary and General President from 1962 to 1982. He served in the Civil Liberties Action Council (CLAC), the Committee in Defence of Democracy (CDD) and the Patriotic Coalition for Democracy (PCD). More recently, he has served on the University of Guyana Council.
He served as Chairman of the following entities: Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, National Communications Network, New Building Society, Guyana Sugar Corporation and the Lottery Fund Commission. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Dependants Pension Fund, Board of Industrial Training, Guyana Mortgage Financial Bank, Critchlow Labour College, Sugar Industry Labour Welfare Fund and the Film Censor Board.
Prior to his appointment as Minister in 2011, Gopaul was the Permanent Secretary of the Public Service Ministry from December 1999 to August 2006 and from September 2006 to December 2011, he served as the Permanent Secretary of the Office of the President. He was also Head of the Public Service from 2000 to 2011.
He received his Masters in Industrial Relations from the University of Glasgow in 1986/1987 and read for his PhD in Industrial and Business Studies at the Warwick Business School, University of Warwick from 1994 to 1996.