“My outstanding responsibility in Parliament in the second five-year period was the Industrial Stabilisation Act. This was introduced on March 18, 1965, in a situation in which he had had to declare a state of emergency in the sugar areas. The subversive elements in the society, with James in the forefront, were at work; the background was an open attempt to link the trade unions in oil and sugar.” (Eric Williams, Inward Hunger: The Education of a Prime Minister, André Deutsch Ltd, London, 1969, p 311).
This excerpt from Eric Williams’ autobiography tells the story of his involvement with the labour movement in this country. By the mid-1960s Williams had fallen out with CLR James, whom he regarded as a subversive element in the society.
Before and after these developments, Eric Williams and the PNM had maintained close ties to the labour movement. Ferdi Ferreira, writing in Newsday on July 25, 2011, said:
“Among the founding fathers of the PNM were the following trade union representatives: Donald Granado—general secretary (UCIW); Sam Worrell— secretary general (SWWTU); Clive Payne—president general (CATTU); Oli Mohammed—former president general (Sugar Workers Union); Ulric Lee (UCIW); John Hackshaw—(OWTU). Mr Granado, Mr Lee, Mr Hackshaw and Mr Oli Mohammed were party candidates in the general election of 1956. Granado and Lee won, while Hackshaw and Mohammed lost. However, Oli Mohammed was made the first PNM Mayor of San Fernando in November of that year.”
One can also add Carl Tull of the Communication Workers’ Union and Nathaniel Crichlow of the NUGFW, who both served as PNM senators in the 1960s and 1970s.
The reality is that the PNM has always had a close relationship with the labour movement through key leaders. Indeed, on August 27, 2015, Dr Keith Rowley, PNM political leader, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Ancel Roget, leader of JTUM, to establish a platform for dialogue between the labour movement and a possible future PNM Government ahead of the September 2015 general election.
The fact that ten years later Roget has drifted away from the PNM and is now a part of the UNC-led Coalition of Interests only serves to confirm that there has been a very healthy link between labour and politics in this country.
Other notable personalities in labour and politics have been Arthur Cipriani, whose Trinidad Workingmen’s Association was subsequently converted to the Trinidad Labour Party; Tubal Uriah Butler and the Butler Party; Basdeo Panday, George Weekes, Joe Young and Raffique Shah, and the United Labour Front, just to mention a few.
When the NAR came to power, ANR Robinson found room to include George Weekes as a senator. The People’s Partnership of 2010 had Errol Mc Leod and David Abdulah in its ranks from the Movement for Social Justice. While in Tobago between 2017 and 2021, Watson Duke was elected to the THA while serving as president of the PSA, a post from which he resigned in 2021.
The upshot of all of this is to demonstrate that there has always been a very healthy connection between labour and politics in this country. In this general election, that connection has been revived under the umbrella of the UNC-led Coalition of Interests with the MSJ staying out of the elections in favour of two of its members contesting seats in La Brea and Point Fortin, while the newly elected president of the PSA mounted the UNC platform in Sangre Grande two Saturdays ago to endorse the Coalition of Interests.
Last week, there was some controversy on this point of labour and politics when the Minority Leader in the THA, Kelvon Morris, made some public pronouncements on this subject. In a Facebook post, he said, “Integrity demands they step aside. A union exists to serve workers, not a political party. Those who can’t separate the two should do the honourable thing, resign and let true advocates lead.”
Given the history of the PNM in courting labour and of other parties in both Trinidad and in Tobago having clear linkages with labour unions, the comment goes against a rich tradition of Caribbean history where political parties and labour unions have been engaged in overt relationships.
The period between the two World Wars marked the moment when labour became very involved in political activity, as there was rising political consciousness and deteriorating economic conditions, as manifested in the social unrest of the period.
The British Government, after the Report of the Moyne Commission of 1939 was made public in 1945, sought to introduce constitutional reforms that facilitated the growth of representative and responsible government. Labour has never been divorced from politics in the Caribbean since that time.
Prof Hamid Ghany is Professor of Constitutional Affairs and Parliamentary Studies of The University of the West Indies (UWI). He was also appointed an Honorary Professor of The UWI upon his retirement in October 2021. He continues his research and publications and also does some teaching at The UWI.
