Labour Disturbances of the 1930s in the BWI

Labour Leaders

• Key figures during this period:
  • Tubal Uriah Buzz Butler (https://youtu.be/X4p6iuc9gNY)
  • Adrian Cola Rienzi (https://sta.uwi.edu/uwitoday/archive/june_2022/article10.asp)
  • Rudranath Capildeo (https://icons.niherst.gov.tt/icon/rudranath-capildeo-ci1/)
  • Captain A.A. Cipriani (https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/cipriani-arthur-andrew-1878-1945)
  • Elma Francois (https://aurn.com/elma-francois-caribbean-revolutionary/)

British Caribbean in the 1930s

• The British colonies were spread across the Caribbean region, including:
  • Belize (British Honduras) in the west (Central American mainland).
  • Jamaica (largest island) and the Cayman Islands in the centre-north.
  • The Bahamas and Turks & Caicos Islands.
  • A chain of small islands forming an arc, including St Kitts, Antigua, Montserrat, Dominica, St. Lucia, and Grenada.
  • Barbados, east of the island chain.
  • Trinidad and Tobago.
  • Guyana (British Guiana).
• Aboriginal inhabitants:
  • Mostly perished in the islands shortly after Columbus's arrival.
  • Survived in mainland colonies (but not exterminated).
  • Only a few hundred descendants in Dominica and Trinidad.
• Populations:
  • Descended from West African slaves or Indian indentured laborers.

Population Numbers and Class Structure

• Populations in 1936 (Colonial Office):
  • Jamaica: $1,138,558$
  • Trinidad & Tobago: $412,783$
  • Guyana: $332,898$
  • Barbados: $188,294$
  • Windward Islands (Grenada, St Lucia, St Vincent): $209,846$
  • Leeward Islands (Antigua, St Kitts, Montserrat, British Virgin Islands) & Dominica: $139,759$
  • Belize (1962): $98,453$ (estimated less than $80,000$ in 1936)
• Mainland colonies:
  • Larger but sparsely populated (except coastal areas).
• Jamaica (week ending 12 December 1942):
  • Gainfully occupied: $505,092$
  • Wage earners: $283,439$
  • Unemployed: $88,981$
  • Never had a job (ages 15-24): $50,528$
  • Self-employed: $153,274$ (including peasants/small farmers).
• High unemployment:
  • Led to self-employment for survival.
• Social structures:
  • Fairly similar in other colonies.
• Labor rebellions:
  • Participants from urban centers and industrial areas.
• Largest employers:
  • Sugar industry (Antigua, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, St Kitts, Trinidad).
  • Oil industry (Trinidad).
  • Banana plantations (Jamaica).
  • Bauxite production (Guyana).
  • Logging/lumber (Belize).
• Inter-colony contact:
  • Limited, except for migration to Trinidad (oil industry) and Guyana.

Franchise, Politics and Labour

• Limited franchise:
  • Restricted to property owners or those with income qualifications (approximately 10% of adult population).
• Political control:
  • Remained in the hands of British-appointed Governors.
• Trade unions:
  • Legal in Jamaica and Guyana before 1932 (but with restrictions).
  • Restrictions included preventing peaceful picketing.
  • Jamaican law didn't protect trade unionists from breach of contract actions.
• Trinidad Workingmens Association (TWA):
  • Engaged in trade union activities despite being illegal before 1932.
• 1932 Legislation:
  • Enacted in Trinidad & Tobago, Grenada, and St Lucia (similar to Jamaican statute).
  • Trade unions remained illegal in other British colonies.
• Extra-territorial contacts:
  • British Guiana Labour Union convened a conference (1926) with TWA and Suriname representatives.
  • Limited attendance and no follow-up.
  • Similar conference in Trinidad (1938) with limited success.

Common Cause of Working Class Unrest

• Principal causes throughout the region:
  1. Low wages.
  2. High unemployment and under-employment.
  3. Arrogant racist attitudes of colonial administrators and employers.
  4. Lack of adequate representation.
  5. No structure for resolving industrial disputes.
  6. The world economic crisis that began in 1929 in the USA.
• Description of the situation in the early 1930s:
  • Seemed like general working-class subservience, colonial officials and employers felt confident.
  • Sullen resentment and dissatisfaction were swelling among working people and the unemployed.
  • The situation was like a cauldron slowly coming to a boil, with isolated early warning bubbles disturbing the placid surface.

Islands with Labour Disturbances

• Sugar Workers Rebellion in St Kitts (1935).
• Labour Rebellion in St Vincent (1935).
• Unrest and Intimidation in St Lucia (1935).
• Labour Rebellion in Barbados (1937).
• Labour Rebellion in Trinidad & Tobago (1937).
• Labour Rebellion in Jamaica (1937).
• Labour Rebellion Renewed in Guyana (1938).

Islands Without Labour Disturbances

• No rebellions occurred in:
  • Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands, Cayman Islands, or British Virgin Islands (due to small size and lack of worker concentrations).
• No rebellions occurred despite the existence of plantations and poverty in:
  • Dominica, Grenada, and Antigua.

The West India Royal Commission

• Decision to appoint the commission:
  • A response to the labour rebellions in the region.
• The idea:
  • Proposed after news of social explosions in Jamaica reached London.
  • Discussed at a Cabinet meeting on 25 May.
• Purpose:
  • To reassure the people and calm excited feelings.

What Did We Learn From These Riots?

• Increased self-confidence of workers.
• Forced the Royal Commission and British Government to recognize the need for trade union legislation.
• Trade Unions:
  • Made lawful in colonies where they were previously unlawful.
  • Legislation amended or introduced to allow peaceful picketing and protect trade unionists from breach of contract actions.
• Organization of trade unions followed, laying the foundations for modern movements.
• Spontaneous, uncoordinated uprisings.
• No premeditated conscious objectives or revolutionary demands.
• Workers did not demand:
  • Expropriation of property.
  • Seizure of political power by the working class.
  • Achievement of political independence.
• Despite the lack of concrete goals, the events were historically significant.