Senior Multimedia Reporter
radhica.sookraj@guardian.co.tt
Before Labour Day became a public holiday and before thousands marched through the streets of Fyzabad every June 19, there was one idea that united Trinidad and Tobago’s working class – solidarity forever.
More than a slogan, it was a battle song sung at protests, strikes and labour demonstrations across the country.
For 84-year-old veteran trade unionist Clyde Callender, that spirit of solidarity united Afro-Trinidadian oil workers and Indo-Trinidadian sugar workers in the years leading up to the historic labour uprising of 1937.
Reflecting on the history of Labour Day, Callender said unity gave workers the strength to challenge foreign-owned companies, colonial authorities and a system that offered little protection to those whose labour fuelled the economy.
He said labour pioneers such as Tubal Uriah “Buzz” Butler, Adrian Cola Rienzi and APT James built their movement on that principle. Decades later, George Weekes and Basdeo Panday would continue that tradition, forging an alliance between oil and sugar workers that became one of the most powerful forces in the country’s labour history.
Callender, the son of oil worker Bernard Callender, grew up hearing stories of sacrifice and struggle from a generation that believed collective action could bring social change.
Looking back, he said the labour movement’s greatest achievement was not only securing better wages and conditions, but uniting people across racial, religious and social lines.
He recalled a time when entire families shared in the struggle, and women stood alongside men in the fight for a better life.
“My father always said the true story has never really been told,” Callender said. “There were many women who helped make a better way for the sugar workers and the oil workers.”
Today, however, he believes that the spirit of unity is fading.
Political and racial divisions have deepened, union membership has declined, and workers now face new challenges brought by globalisation, technological change and artificial intelligence.
Still, Callender maintains that Labour Day remains one of the greatest examples of national unity in Trinidad and Tobago’s history.
“The lesson is still the same,” he said. “Workers must never allow themselves to be divided.”
History of Labour Day
Historian and University of the West Indies lecturer Dr Jerome Teelucksingh says Labour Day is about much more than strikes and industrial disputes.
“It is also a story of nation-building. Long before Independence, workers were among the first groups to challenge colonial rule and demand a greater say in the country’s future,” he said.
Dr Teelucksingh believes that contribution is often overlooked.
While Labour Day celebrates past achievements, he says the movement still has work to do. Trade unions, he argues, must continue to defend organised labour while also speaking up for vulnerable workers who lack representation.
“In 2026, trade union leaders must also be the voice for thousands of non-unionised workers who are exploited, sexually harassed and underpaid,” he said.
He added that unions should play a stronger role in confronting corruption, crime and economic inequality.
“The future of trade unionism is challenging, especially with workers feeling threatened by AI, globalisation and oppressive governments,” he said.
Dr Teelucksingh noted that labour organisations have historically fought for more than workplace rights. During the 1920s and 1930s, groups such as the Trinidad Workingmen’s Association campaigned against racism, child labour and restrictions on voting rights.
They also helped open leadership and membership opportunities for working-class women.
For Dr Teelucksingh, the labour movement has always stood for one central principle: dignity and fair treatment for workers. Those demands, he said, grew out of the harsh conditions faced by working people during the colonial era.
Suffering of the Working Class and Rise of Labour
Economist and trade unionist David Abdulah, who documented the history of Labour Day, wrote that while foreign-owned oil companies and sugar estates generated enormous wealth in the 1930s, many workers lived in poverty.
The British-appointed Forster Commission, which investigated the 1937 unrest, described a colony plagued by disease, malnutrition, overcrowding and poor housing. Oilfield workers earned an average of just seven cents an hour, unemployment was high, trade unions were largely absent and racial discrimination was widespread, Abdulah wrote.
It was against this backdrop that Butler emerged as the leading voice of the working class.
Born in Grenada in 1891, Butler came to Trinidad in 1921 to work in the oilfields. After a workplace accident left him with a permanent leg injury, he became deeply involved in workers’ struggles.
As a preacher, Butler combined religious conviction with labour activism. His meetings opened and closed with prayers and hymns, while his speeches called for justice and workers’ rights. According to Abdulah, Butler’s greatest achievement was helping workers recognise the power of collective action.
“For the first time in years, workers were developing confidence in themselves and recognising that collective action was necessary if they were to make inroads into the oppressive social and economic conditions they experienced daily,” Abdulah wrote.
That confidence erupted on June 19, 1937, when workers at Apex Oilfields in Fyzabad went on strike.
The action quickly spread across the oil belt and beyond. That evening, as Butler addressed a crowd of workers, police attempted to arrest him.
“Must I go, comrades?” Butler reportedly asked.
“No, they can’t take you,” the crowd replied.
The confrontation sparked a nationwide uprising. Within days, workers in the sugar industry, agriculture and urban centres joined the movement. British troops were deployed to restore order. Fourteen people were killed, dozens were wounded, and hundreds were arrested.
Yet from the turmoil came one of the labour movement’s greatest achievements: organised trade unionism. Within months, the Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union, the All Trinidad Sugar Estates and Factory Workers’ Trade Union and several other major unions had been established.
The Role of Adrian Cola Rienzi
A lawyer and political activist, Abdulah said Adrian Cola Rienzi became the bridge between the predominantly Afro-Trinidadian oil workers and the predominantly Indo-Trinidadian sugar workers.
He was born Krishna Deonarine but had changed his name to Rienzi to avoid racial prejudice. At a time when colonial authorities often relied on divide-and-rule tactics, Rienzi championed a different vision.
He simultaneously led both the OWTU and the sugar workers’ union, helping workers recognise that they faced common challenges regardless of ethnicity.
Abdulah notes that Rienzi’s leadership demonstrated that racial division was neither natural nor inevitable.
The unity displayed between oil and sugar workers in 1937 remains one of the most significant examples of cross-racial cooperation in the country’s history.
That tradition would continue decades later.
During the 1970s, George Weekes of the OWTU and Basdeo Panday of the All Trinidad Sugar and General Workers’ Trade Union forged a powerful alliance that united the country’s two largest labour sectors.
Together, they mobilised thousands of workers in one of the largest demonstrations of labour solidarity Trinidad and Tobago had ever seen.
Their combined influence created a political and industrial force so significant that then-prime minister Dr Eric Williams eventually recognised June 19 as a national holiday, ensuring that the sacrifices of 1937 would be permanently commemorated.
Since then, the celebration usually begins with the Butler Classics race, which Callender started in the 1980s. There is a solemn wreath-laying ceremony at Butler’s gravesite, as well as the energetic march from Avocat Junction to Charlie King Junction in Fyzabad, where unionists give fiery speeches about issues affecting workers.
Chronology: The Road to Labour Day
1891 – Tubal Uriah “Buzz” Butler is born in Grenada.
1921 – Butler arrives in Trinidad and finds work in the oilfields.
1920–1932 – Captain Arthur Andrew Cipriani and the Trinidad Labour Party champion workers’ rights through constitutional and political action.
1929 – Butler suffers a serious injury in an oilfield accident, leaving him with a permanent limp.
1935 – Workers at Apex Oilfields in Fyzabad strike over poor working conditions. After the strike ends, 212 workers lose their jobs.
1935 – Butler leads the dismissed workers on a hunger march from Fyzabad to Port of Spain. The march is halted in Chaguanas after promises are made that the workers’ grievances will be addressed.
August 1936 – Butler breaks away from the Trinidad Labour Party and forms the British Empire Workers and Citizens Home Rule Party. Around the same time, lawyer Adrian Cola Rienzi forms the Trinidad Citizens League.
1936–1937 – Butler travels throughout the oilfields and sugar belt, holding mass meetings and organising workers.
June 19, 1937 – Workers at Apex Oilfields launch a strike that quickly spreads across Trinidad, triggering the historic labour uprising.
June 19, 1937 – Police Corporal Charlie King attempted to arrest Butler during a meeting in Fyzabad. He is cornered and set on fire. Workers prevent Butler’s arrest, and he goes into hiding.
Late June 1937 – British troops are deployed to restore order. Fourteen people are killed, 59 wounded, and hundreds arrested.
July 25, 1937 – The Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU) holds its founding congress. Adrian Cola Rienzi is elected President-General.
September–November 1937 – Major trade unions, including the OWTU and the All Trinidad Sugar Estates and Factory Workers’ Trade Union, are formally registered.
December 1937 – Butler is arrested and jailed on charges of sedition.
May 1939 – Butler is released from prison and becomes Chief Organiser of the OWTU.
July 1939 – A dispute with the OWTU leadership leads to Butler’s eventual expulsion from the union.
1940–1945 – Butler is detained during the Second World War for alleged subversive activities.
April 1945 – Butler is released and forms the British Empire Workers, Peasants and Ratepayers Union (BEWPRU).
1946–1947 – Major strikes involving dockworkers, oil workers, sugar workers and public servants sweep the colony.
1950 – Butler wins a seat in the Legislative Council and emerges as one of the colony’s most influential political figures.
1956 – Butler contests his final election as Dr Eric Williams and the People’s National Movement rises to power.
1960s – Annual commemorations of the 1937 labour uprising continue in Fyzabad, keeping Butler’s legacy alive among trade unionists and workers.
Early 1970s – OWTU leader George Weekes and sugar workers’ leader Basdeo Panday unite oil and sugar workers in a powerful labour alliance.
1973 – The Government officially declares June 19 Labour Day, recognising the significance of the 1937 labour uprising and the contribution of workers to national development.
1973 – The first official Labour Day celebrations are held in Fyzabad, transforming a day of remembrance into a national observance.
Today – Labour Day remains a national holiday honouring the sacrifices of Butler, Rienzi and generations of workers who fought for justice, dignity and workers’ rights.
