THE SHIPPING community bade farewell to popular portworker Joseph 'Balla' McCoy at a funeral service on Sunday (June 27) at the Hagley Park Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Kingston.
Mr. McCoy was employed as a portworker with the Shipping Association of Jamaica (SAJ) for more than 30 years before his retirement in 1998, and up to the time of his death, was a vice- president for the Port Bustamante Pensioners' Association.
Colleagues, friends and family members delivered flowery tributes and words of praise about him and expressed condolences to his loved ones.
A tribute from the SAJ, read by Vice-President Michael Bernard, said: "While Mr. McCoy lived, he made his mark as a valuable member of the team of portworkers at the SAJ, demonstrating high standards of leadership, wide involvement, unselfish attributes and was a committed worker".
The tribute cited his contribution to the development of the Port of Kingston, making significant input towards fundamental changes as well as his involvement as delegate for the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU) for several years, and his participation in the deliberations of the industry's Disciplinary Committee. "The members of the managing committee, the members and workers of the Shipping Association of Jamaica pay tribute to the life of this worker. We express condolences to his family, friends and colleagues. As we come to terms with his death, let us take heart and reflect on the way in which he lived his life," Mr. Bernard said.
Mr. McCoy started out as a casual labourer with the SAJ in 1966 and progressed to become a registered portworker. He later took on specialised tasks working as a winch operator aboard ships and then as a gantry crane operator.
He was among the first group of portworkers who went to Jacksonville, Florida, in 1975 for training in gantry crane operations. Up to the time of his retirement he was a ship foreman, supervising the groups of stevedores working on vessels at the two terminals Kingston Wharves and Kingston Container Terminal.
