Many tributes have been paid to Kenyetta Young, who passed away at age 72.

In his heyday, he was the Bermuda Industrial Union’s most prolific organiser and negotiator. The rank and file of workers in this land will join Kenyetta’s widow, Carolyn Young, and other family and friends in the final farewell later today. His body had been lying in state at union headquarters from Friday night. The plan had been outlined for workers to march the cortege to St Paul AME Church for a service and later to the graveyard at St John’s Church for interment.

Devoting various pages to Kenyetta in my 333-page History of the Bermuda Industrial Union, yours truly related how Kenyetta was hired in 1979 specifically for the Construction Division. He had responsibility for new members.

We quote Kenyetta in the book as stating: “We picked up Telco, supermarkets, theatres, newspapers, rest homes, the Commercial Bank, ZBM and others.”

Kenyetta was a 17-year-old trainee plumber who had not long been out of Central School. At that time he was caught up in the Black Power Movement that was sweeping Bermuda. He was fired-up by his readings of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. In 1962 and 1963, while working on the construction of Hamilton Princess Hotel dormitories, he was profoundly inspired by Wilmot Douglas and Richard Lynch who had been busy organising the Construction Division, having meetings at Alexandria Hall in Hamilton.

Because Kenyetta was so vocal at those meetings he attracted considerable attention. He was appointed a shop steward. When the union was seeking young men willing to be trained for leadership roles, Kenyetta was chosen, along with his inseparable cousin Dilton Dickinson.

In 1971 Kenyetta and Dilton were in a cadre sent to Washington for intensive training. Others were Dennis Bascome, Earl Brown, Del Trott, Vivian Ming and Gladys Simons, each of whom have made indelible imprints in BIU history.

Kenyetta was drafted at a meeting of the Construction Division to the office of president of the division. Dilton became vice-president, Colin Simmons treasurer and Larry Scott secretary.

“They were my colleagues and friends,” Kenyetta described them, adding they were all “hot heads”.

Within a year they had a major strike on their hands, as noted in my book. The 1972 strike was one of the BIU’s landmark industrial actions. It lasted nine weeks involving 900 masons, carpenters, plumbers, electricians and other mechanics as well as labourers.

President Kenyetta was the man at the head, behind, and all over the action.

At stake was the union’s demand for major benefits, namely check-offs by employers for a joint contributory pension and for sick leave and vacation pay to be placed in a central fund to be controlled by the union. The strike was costly to contractors who lost hundreds of thousands of dollars on a daily basis. And likewise, workers suffered loss of income during the nine weeks, and as stated in my book, “to their everlasting credit, members never made demands on the union for strike pay”.

Kenyetta, young and heavily bearded, was tough and fearless. He was disliked by the establishment. Throughout all, at his side and his back, was his wife Carolyn.