Deep Roots of Ken Green

The more recent accomplishments of Ken Green are justifiably ingrained upon our minds. But how much do we know about whence he came? In truth, his origins are every bit as fascinating.

Many years ago, a distant ancestor was a close friend of William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania. His son was Daniel Green, a Quaker Loyalist granted 500 acres of land in the 1840s. The parcel was called Green's Shore at the time but is now known as Summerside, PEI. Ken himself was born there in 1915.

Ken attended St Francis Xavier University. His scholastic diligence is illustrated by his son's assurance that, had his father passed one more paper, he would have earned three separate degrees: Arts, Business and Engineering.

His first job was site engineer at Summerside and Charlottetown airports, followed by work at Renous, NB. It was here that Green's convictions in championing the cause of workers first came into play. Several employees at Renous had their wages cut by 25 cents per hour. Ken immediately went to bat for them. He was relentless in his defence of colleagues' rights, but not too successful. Management gave him a choice - resign or be fired. He stubbornly chose the latter.

Six months later Brother Green found employment at National Defence in Halifax. He immediately became active in Local 273 in the Dockyard. His boss, Admiral Porteous, proved very enlightened. He realized that the time Ken spent working on union problems was also of value to management. Thus he did not object to extensive periods of absence from government tasks.