Joseph Attard Kingswell (1925–2002) was a Maltese

trade unionist A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (s ...

and diplomat. He served as General Secretary to the General Workers Union, the largest trade union in Malta; as well as being the Ambassador for Malta in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and the Ambassador Extraordinary in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. He was also the editor of ''It-Torċa'', a newspaper issued by the union, from 1958 to 1967. He travelled abroad on international assignments by the

International Confederation of Free Trade Unions The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) was an international trade union. It came into being on 7 December 1949 following a split within the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), and was dissolved on 31 October 2006 when ...

from 1959. Born on 25 July 1925, Attard Kingswell was a delegate for the workers at International Labour Conferences since 1955. He had acted as industrial adviser to the Government of Malta and to the Malta Labour Party in Malta and in London and was a member of several government boards and committees. He was a member of the Duke of Edinburgh Commonwealth Conference in Canada in 1960. Attard Kingswell was a member of the Anglo-Maltese Joint Mission in 1967 and member of the Steering Committee. In 1968 Attard Kingswell was chosen by the Confederation of Civic Councils (Malta) and awarded a Silver

Medal of Merit Several countries award a military or civil medal called Medal of Merit: * Medal of Merit (Czech Republic) * Medal of Merit (Denmark) * Medal of Merit of the Dominican Woman * Medal of Merit of the National People's Army (East Germany) * Medal o ...

on behalf of the Maltese Nation. The Medal of Merit was awarded to those who had shown special merit or had given exception service to Malta. In 1992 Attard Kingswell was made Member of the National Order of Merit which carries the denomination of UOM. During the turbulent 1960s and 1970s, and due to political machinations, Attard Kingswell had been removed from the General Workers Union on the pretext that he had helped the government of the day finalize a deal with the British government regarding the redundancies and compensation of workers employed with the UK Services on the rundown of the military bases in Malta. Another clash had been his opposition to the unification of the union with the Malta Labour Party, as Attard Kingswell felt that such a union was not in the interest of the workers. Between 1987 and 1996 he served as advisor to Prime Minister

Eddie Fenech Adami Edoardo "Eddie" Fenech Adami, (born 7 February 1934) is a Maltese politician and Nationalist politician who served as the prime minister of Malta from 1987 until 1996, and again from 1998 until 2004. Subsequently, he was the seventh president ...

, with special responsibilities for Malta Drydocks and Marsa Shipbuilding. Attard Kingswell died on 21 January 2002 at the age of 76 years.

References

Sources

* ''The Times of Malta'', 21 September 1968 {{DEFAULTSORT:Attard Kingswell, Joseph 1925 births 2002 deaths Ambassadors of Malta to Belgium Ambassadors of Malta to Norway British diplomats Maltese diplomats Recipients of the National Order of Merit (Malta) Recipients of the Medal of Merit (Malta) Maltese trade union leaders