yussuff emigrated to canada from guyana as a young man to work as a heavy truck mechanic and soon found employment on the plant floor of cancar, an automotive parts manufacturer, in toronto where he became a member of the canadian auto workers. within a year, he was elected plant chairman of local 252 of the canadian auto workers and later was elected plant chairman of the general motors truck centre. he later served as a staff representative in the organizing and service departments before being appointed as director of the caw human rights department. as such, yussuff joined the clc’s executive council and then co-chaired the clc human rights committee.