1199SEIU President George Gresham led a delegation of members and leaders to the recent funeral and memorial services for the late South African icon Nelson Mandela. Mandela, the longtime leader of the anti-apartheid struggle, one of the world’s most respected and celebrated freedom fighter, died December 5 at age 95.

“I arrived in Johannesburg in time to view President Mandela’s body,” said Fred Hicks, a member of 1199SEIU’s Executive Council and longtime delegate at Silver Lake Nursing Home in Staten Island, NY. “Being in South Africa to honor and say farewell to such an icon was one of the proudest moments of my life.”

Alma Ames, a veteran Executive Council member from the Maryland-DC region was the other rank-and-file-member of the 1199SEIU delegation.

Hicks has been a labor activist for some 45 years, beginning in his native Guyana to Trinidad, the former Local 144 and 1199SEIU. As a merchant marine he traveled the world and became acquainted with struggles of working people around the world. He had long been inspired by Mandela, he noted, but attending the memorial events in South Africa reinforced the importance and relevance of Mandela’s work.

“His struggle was similar to what we went through in the U.S.,” Hicks stresses. Both Mandela and U. S. leaders such as the late Dr. Martin Luther King often stressed how they drew strength from the freedom struggles of the other’s countries. “End Apartheid” and “Free South Africa” were common slogans of the U.S. justice movements.

“Nelson Mandela also had many lessons for trade unionists in our country and around the world” Hicks stressed. “Like Dr. King in the U.S., the South African rulers most feared Mandela’s fight for all working people in his country and in his region.

“It is much more difficult to isolate someone who is fighting for a just society for all. I know that he was branded a terrorist. And I know that the U.S. government helped the apartheid regime capture him. But that did not stop him or his movement.”

Hicks said that Mandela is a great example of how one person can inspire and help bring change for so many. “But I also understand the importance of his organization, the ANC, and his movement.

“Although I’m past retirement age, I’m going to keep on fighting for justice for working men and women so long as I have breath in my body,” Hicks said. “I will especially try to inspire young workers. Nelson Mandela taught me that it’s not about me. It’s about we.”