By G. A. Dwyer Astaphan
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As we approach Labour Day, it’s a good time to reflect on the events of time over the past 80 years or so.
In 1929, the world reeled under the Great Depression.
Here in St.Kitts & Nevis, and indeed, the entire Caribbean, the impact was felt in the most painful terms.
But for Kittitians and Nevisians, the Great Depression was not the only cause of their extreme anguish. Indeed, for those who know our history, the people of these islands at the time had been already staggering and suffering under the cruel hand of centuries of colonial oppression, what I call “the Great Oppression”.
Political and social justice was virtually non-existent for the ordinary man and woman, as were basic health care, education and economic opportunity. People lived in callously orchestrated squalor, both physically and socially, as they had been doing for generation after generation.
And it was in the midst of these terrible conditions that the Workers’ League was formed in 1932.
Its founders wanted it to be a union and a political party, both of which were prohibited under prevailing colonial law, and also a social organisation, like a large, loving family, around which ordinary folks could rally and in which they could find voice, validation and comfort.
And in quick time it gathered support and momentum, organising and agitating in the cause of the workers of this land, like its counterparts in other Caribbean territories.
So, when in 1935 sugar workers revolted and rioted in what became known as “the Buckley’s Riots” against the extreme cruelty and inequity which was being perpetrated against them, the Workers’ League was right there with them, at the vanguard of the struggle.
And the state of anger and agitation that was evident here was also showing up in other Caribbean islands, with the result that there was serious unrest in the region.
This got the attention of the British Government which in 1938, despatched an Irishman named Walter Edward Guinness (a member of the famous Guinness family) who had joined the British military, fighting himself in the Boer War and in the 1st World War, and who had become a parliamentarian and a successful public figure, with some help from his friend, Winston Churchill.
He retired from office and was made Baron (Lord) Moyne of Bury St. Edmunds in 1932.
The Moyne Commission’s Report, completed in 1940, pointed to the awful conditions of Caribbean life under British rule, and was unhesitatingly critical of British policy in the region.
The British Government took the decision to embargo the release of the report until 1945, when World War II was over. It did not want to be embarrassed by it, especially if Germany were to use it for propaganda purposes.
The Commission exposed the deficiencies in the health and education sectors, as well as some of the hard facts of economic and social life such as unemployment, juvenile delinquency (yes, juvenile delinquency), the high infant mortality rate, the plight of sugar workers and small farmers, unsafe conditions in the workplace, hours of pay, the lack of protection for workers, the absence of collective labour agreements, with only employers being able to decide what wages workers should get, and so on.
So that you know, Lord Moyne was a staunch Conservative. He was not a socialist. He was tight with Churchill who was himself a bulldog of a Conservative.
But he had a conscience and he spoke out strongly.
The Commission considered drainage and irrigation and stated that almost all of the well-drained lands were owned by sugar barons, with the small farmers and sugar labourers only able to access swampy or otherwise unsuitable land.
It also looked at the political system and recommended change to lower the financial and land ownership qualifications, both for voters and for persons elected to office. This recommendation led to the formation of the Franchise Commission in1944, and as we all know, helped to pave the way to universal adult suffrage in 1952.
Just so that you will get a perspective, in the elections of 1937 there were only about 1,500 voters in the islands of St.Kitts and Nevis, although the population at the time was at least as large as it is now.
The Moyne Commission demanded the alleviation of the conditions affecting the working poor. It advocated for trade unions, for the establishment of wages boards to fix wages rather than leaving the decision to the employers. It proposed unemployment insurance and a system of regular workplace inspections to ensure worker safety and accident reduction. And it called for the setting up of Labour Departments and then appointment of Labour Commissioners.
It also proposed that territorial Governments consult with the sugar producers for the imposition of a welfare levy for every ton of sugar produced. This proposal led to the setting up of Labour Welfare Funds in the different territories of the region, which would be used to build housing schemes for sugar workers.
As a result of the Moyne Commission, numerous changes and improvements were introduced in these English-speaking territories of the Caribbean...trade unions, political parties, voting rights, eligibility to be elected, industrial laws, worker protection schemes, housing, and health and education reform, etc.
But the real driving forces behind it all were as follows:
1. The workers had had enough; and
2. The Workers’ League in this country and similar organisations elsewhere in the region were in place to provide leadership and organisation for the cause.
And I daresay that just about every major progressive step taken in this land of ours over the past 77 years in terms of enfranchisement and empowerment of the poor, and in terms of advancing the cause of economic, social and political justice has its origin in that communion between workers and Workers’ League in 1932, and the ongoing relationship and developments thereafter.
So we must never allow ourselves to lose sight of the fact that it is the oppressed, aided and assisted by people of conscience who might themselves not be oppressed (like Lord Moyne), who must lead the charge to their own redemption and to ending economic, social and political injustice.
I therefore propose that the citizens of St. Kitts & Nevis call form the erection in Buckley’s Estate Yard of a Monument to the heroes of the 1935 Buckleys’ Riot, so that they might be eternally memorialised, and so that the workers of today and tomorrow might never forget that achieving and sustaining that economic, social and political justice is, and always will, be their struggle to lead.
Because it has been, it is, and it always will be, their struggle to endure.
It is accordingly also important for workers, and everybody else, to understand that they need to be organised and to belong to a union.
The problem is that over the last 30 years or so, people have become suspicious, and in most cases ignorant, of unions.
And some people have found it in their best interests to suppress unions.
It is a fact that politicians belonging to right-wing parties in the region are unsupportive of unions.
But it is equally true that some politicians who belong to parties which are affiliated with unions make an effort to ‘keep the unions under control’, in a bid to ensure that the unions do not become “too powerful” or become a threat to them or their party.
I remember hearing one such union-affiliated politician say, in a time when the president of a particular union was a charismatic and eloquent gentleman: “We can’t have two leaders.”
I can also recall hearing another prominent politician of similar ilk say: “For all practical purposes, unions have served their purpose. They have outlasted their usefulness and are no longer relevant.” That is a person who loves to proclaim all kind of love, respect and appreciation for workers, especially, it seems, at election time.
I could not disagree more. Workers need the protection and guidance of collectivity. It is their right, and without it, their position is not as far advanced from that of the 1930’s as it ought to be, and economic, social and political justice is not properly served.
As I reflect, I regret that effort to have Social Security buy majority shares in S.L. Horsford & Co. Ltd. did not succeed. It would have energised and motivated workers in this land to greater pride, greater awareness, greater togetherness, and greater productivity. It would have empowered them and it would have transformed the face of or economic, social and political landscape dramatically and for the better.
And it would have been a good way to salute the men and women of 1935 and other times past.
You know what? I would have preferred if next Monday’s Labour Day March were to start out at Buckley’s Estate Yard with a brief but meaningful ceremony, then proceed through Basseterre.
Until Next Time, Plenty Peace.
