LEWISTON – Retired Bates Mill worker Roland Gosselin, 81, was honored Saturday for his lifelong commitment to the betterment of fellow mill workers and his community.

The honor was given to Gosselin at the second annual Workers Memorial Day by the Western Maine Labor Council, AFL-CIO and Museum L-A.

In addition to Gosselin, two organizations were honored for helping workers. They were the AFSCME 1458, for organizing a new union at the Lewiston Housing Authority; and the MSEA-SEIU Kids First, which organized 2,200 home-based child care providers into a union.

Gosselin worked at Bates Mill most of his life “and really went out of his way to help his fellow mill workers,” said Matt Schlobohm of Maine AFL-CIO.

Among the acts Gosselin was remembered for was how he helped French-speaking mill workers sign their names “so they could cash their paychecks for their families,” said Rachel Desgrosseilliers, director of Museum L-A. Her father was one of those Gosselin helped, she said.

Around 1939 the mill began to pay workers with checks instead of cash. “Many people who worked in the mill were illiterate,” Gosselin said. “They didn’t know how to sign their checks. They were crying.”

On his half-hour lunch breaks, Gosselin began teaching workers how to sign their names. He ended up teaching dozens of workers how to write.

Gosselin worked as a weaver. “My set of looms were right over here in the corner,” Gosselin said from the second floor of the Bates Mill complex.

Because he was bilingual and often “did this and that” for workers, he was offered the job of business agent for the union, Gosselin said Saturday as people walking by congratulated him.

Gosselin was born in Augusta and raised in Lewiston. His parents and grandparents were mill workers. After the early death of his father, he helped raised his eight younger siblings, ensuring their education.

He also worked as a reporter for the Bates Spinner, and was involved in the Richelieu Club, the Knights of Columbus, and the Community Little Theatre.