The following is a biographical profile on Nicholas Pollard Sr. (1924-2003), Belizean unionist:

• Nicholas Pollard Sr. was born on March 22, 1924 at Bacalar in Quintana Roo Mexico to parents Alberta Gill and Juan Castro Pollard.
• His Father was from Trujillo, Honduras and his mother was from Monkey River Village in southern Belize.
• Nick was the youngest of three sons. His two older brothers were Justo and Liberato.
• Nicholas Pollard Sr. attended Holy Redeemer Primary School and then St. John’s College and graduated at the top of his class.
• On February 9, 1948 Nick married Elizabeth Hoffman and together they have twelve children, 6 girls and 6 boys.
• Between 1947 and 1950, Nick along with John Smith, George Price, Philip Goldson, Leigh Richardson, Narciso Valdez and others became members of the Christian Social Action Movement (C.S.A.).
• During this time they studied Pope Leo XIII’s “Rerum Novarum” which dealt with the plight of the working class. These social and religious views presented in the “Rerum Novarum” served as the framework for the trade union agenda that Nick would pursue for much of his life.
• Between 1950 and 1957 Nick was one of the co-founders and executives of the People’s Committee that would later become the People’s United Party.
• In 1948 Nick, as an employee of James Brodie’s, organized secret meetings with the workers and legally established the Mercantile Clerks Union of which he was president.
• He was also General Secretary and President of the powerful General Workers Union (G.W.U.)
• In 1951 while attending the founding of the Inter-American Regional Organization of Labour (O.R.I.T.) in Mexico City, he was appointed as its Caribbean and Central American organizer.
• His early union activism was also temporarily scarred by an incident in which he was accused of stealing $67.09 dollars from hurricane relief funds. This led to his expulsion from the G.W.U. and was one of the factors that led to a split between the G.W.U and the P.U.P. Nick maintains that he never stole the money.
• Other Union activities included being a founding member of Southern Christian Union under its president David Mckoy.
• Founder and General Secretary of the Christian Democratic Union
• Founder and organizer of the Christian Workers Union represented in the Confederation of Latin American Christian Unions
• Founder and Organizer of the National Federation of Christian Trade Unions.
• Nick helped to establish Labour Day first designated on May 1, 1961
• Nicholas de la Roca Pollard passed away on January 21st, 2003.

Information & Photos Courtesy: Nicholas Pollard Jr.

How to cite: ISCR/NICH. “Nicholas Pollard Sr. (1924-2003).” Belize’s Heroes, Patriots & Benefactors Exhibit. Retrieved from: [Insert BHA Website URL]

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