Lambert appointed Government Senator to replace Abdulah

James Lambert

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar on Wednesday announced the appointment of prominent trade union James Lambert as a government Senator.

Lambert is the President General of the National Union of Government and Federated Workers (NUGFW). He is also the President of the National Trade Union Centre (NATUC), the umbrella trade union body.

Lambert takes the place of David Abdulah, who announced on Sunday that he was resigning as a senator. Persad-Bissessar advised President Max Richards on Wednesday to revoke Abdulah's appointment.

A media release from the office of the PM (OPM) said, "Lambert has spent his life in service to the national community as a trade unionist. He has served politically in Local Government in 1987, as a Senator in 2001 and as a general election candidate for the constituency of Diego Martin West in 2002.”

It added, "Mr. Lambert brings with him substantial experience in the trade union movement, rising to executive responsibility as the First Vice President of the NUGFW in 1991."

The OPM said Lambert is an appropriate voice of the trade union movement and the workers of Trinidad & Tobago. "Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar has expressed deep confidence that he is a strong voice that will seek the real interest and upliftment of workers," the release said.

Lambert began his political career as a member of the People's National Movement in the 1960s and served as Vice Chairman of the Diego Martin West Constituency in 1987.

He was elected as a Local Government Representative in that year and served up to 1996. He left the PNM in 1996, and joined the United National Congress (UNC) member thereafter.

Basdeo Panday, who was Prime Minister at the time, appointment him a senator in 2001. He was a a candidate for the UNC in the 2002 General Elections in the Diego Martin West Constituency.