Kamel Chia, the trade union militant and educator, who held many educational and union positions, serving as Vice President of the Association of Teachers in Official Basic Education in Lebanon, and a member of the Union Coordination Committee.
Chia, a native of the town of Sofar in the Aley District, passed away in 2013. The Union Coordination Committee mourned him in a statement saying: “With the passing of Kamel Chia, the trade union movement in Lebanon in general, and in the educational sector and official basic education in particular, loses one of its symbols and a shining face among those whose name has been linked to its history over forty years of giving, sacrifice, and unlimited dedication”.
One of the Earliest Founders of Educational Associations
The statement added that Chia was one of the earliest founders of the associations of teachers in official basic education since the 1970s. For more than a quarter of a century, he was in the leadership of the Central Council of Teachers' Associations and subsequently in the leadership of the Teachers' Office in Lebanon in the 1980s. Kamel Chia fought for the unity of teachers in official basic education and played a prominent role in achieving the union achievement of unifying the five teachers' associations in basic education into one unified association, and he remained in its leadership as Vice President until his death.
It offered condolences to his family, the Progressive Socialist Party, the Association of Teachers in Official Basic Education, the Chia family, and all the people of Bdadoun and Sofar.
The Association of Basic Education also mourned him, describing him as a distinguished unionist, and stated in its statement that his retirement from his job a year earlier did not keep him away from the arenas of social and educational work and union struggle, as he remained that thundering voice forever demanding to raise fists in the face of corruption and malpractice.
