The Decade of 1930s was a Period of Serious Challenges for British Guiana Labour Movement Duane Edwards

The 1930s is one of those decades in the history of the British Guiana labour movement that not very much is written about. Many books and monographs deal with the period from 1905 to 1929 and from 1940 upward, with an almost consensual avoidance of the 1930s. The obvious question then becomes why? Why did the decade of the 1930s fail to feature much in writings on the history of labour movement in Guyana? Is it because there is a lack of historical records for this period? And, if so why does this period fail to produce historical data similar to the periods immediately preceding it and following it? Or, is it that the error lies not in the period but in the chroniclers? Is it that our historians for some reason or the other were more attracted to the events of the other periods than they were interested in the period in question? Those questions definitely need to be answered. This essay, by no means endeavouring to answer those questions, sets out to demonstrate that the period of the 1930s, though less eventful than the periods preceding and following it was a period of serious challenges for the British Guiana labour movement. These challenges will be outlined under the following four broad categories: Political/Constitutional, Economic, Structural, and Organisational. Political/Constitutional Challenges One of the major challenges faced by the British Guiana Labour Movement in the 1930s was political in nature and had to do with what was considered a backward step in constitutional development in the Colony. Resulting from the recommendation of the Wilson/Snell Commission in 1928, British Guiana was transformed into a Crown Colony Government. This form of Government placed final authority in the hands of the Governor who acted with the blessing of the Crown. Previous to 1928, Guyana had a somewhat representative government. This system was made up of the Court of Policy whose members were directly appointed by the Governor and the College of Financial Representatives who were elected by those eligible to vote. The elected members were always more than the appointed members numerically (Nath 1975, 154). More important than the above, however, was the fact that decisions were democratically arrived at and elected representatives played key roles in the decision making process. This process of political participation as minimal as it was had a certain inspiring effect on the educated class or strata of the non-white population who were motivated to offer the necessary political and industrial representation that could one day land them in the legislature probably the highest political accomplishment available to the members of the non-white population. This, however,

must be viewed against the backdrop of a very small voting population owing to voting qualifications criteria. According to Hinds, the 1928 constitution stipulated the following voting criteria: Property Qualifications Ownership or occupation of not less than six acres of land; ownership of house and/or land valuing no less than 72. 18s. 4d.; occupation or tenancy of land or house(or both) of not less than 20.

Tax Qualifications Payment of direct taxes (not including licence duty) of 4. 3s. 4d. per annum.

Salary or Income Qualifications 62. 10s. per annum. The average worker income was approximately 2s. 2d. a day and therefore could not afford the sum listed above (Hinds 12).

Economic Challenges It must be noted that during the period of the 1930s the international economy was adversely affected by the Great Depression. This crisis had its ripple effects on the British Guiana plantation economy in a number of ways. First of all, it resulted in shrinkage of the international market for sugar which in turn resulted in shrinkage in the demand for labour in the sugar industry. Commenting on this predicament, Ashton Chase (2006) indicated that the crisis reduced the labour force to as much as 40% and wage for stevedores and casual labourers about 20% (61). The economic crisis was of such magnitude that even the labour unions recognized the need to cut wages so as to avoid workers being laid off. The crisis also led to unfavourable terms of trade for undeveloped countries producing primary products (Hinds 11). The reduction in workers wages affected the unions negatively. Because of this reduction the workers were unable to pay their subscription fee. This is reflected by the fact that in its first year of operation the British Guiana Labour Union (BGLU) had attracted a membership of as much as 13,000 workers which include water front workers, porters, labourers, tradesmen, sea defence workers, road maintenance men, railway employees, balata bleeders, miners, factory workers and domestics. (Harry 1976, 11) and a cash balance of $9700 and in the 1930s both membership and dues declined considerably.

The shrinkage in the labour force and wages, paradoxically, was not accompanied by a corresponding change in output. On the contrary, output expanded significantly during the decade of the 1930s.

Commenting on the phenomenon, Iserdeo Jainarain (1976), a Guyanese economist attached to the Institute of Development Studies, University of Guyana, had the following to say in terms of sugar production during the decade in question: In 1931 output in Guyana exceeded the high 1877 level for the first time; thereafter expansion was so substantial that the 1938 output was almost double the 1929 level. (Jainarain (1976, 71). The obvious question then becomes what is responsible for the inverse shrinkage in labour and wages and the expansion of output. The not so obvious answer is technological advancement.

Another great challenge that the decade posed for the labour movement is the technologisation or mechanization of aspects of production. The introduction of available technology in the production process resulted in the reduction in the demands for manual labour and also in wages, and by extension the standard of living of the population (Hinds 11). This situation posed a great challenge for the unions which were depended upon for representation by the workers. British Guiana had a reputation among the British West Indies for being very keen about operational and technological improvement (Laurence 319). Though there were concerns in the colonies about the availability of ready and cheap labour subsidized by the colony acting as a disincentive to modernization the very contrary was the reality. The availability of a ready and cheap labour force gave the plantation the boost it needed to develop and implement machine to replace manual labour. The labour of the laboring class was turned against the labourers by the planters. Commenting on the modernization process in British Guiana, Laurence had the following to say:

British Guiana was probably the best example of this in the West Indies, but Trinidads showing was also commendable. The installation of vacuum pans was pushed ahead and by 1897 only two estates in British Guiana still made muscovado sugar while only 7% of Trinidads production was of that type. New and more effective boilers were installed and messages carriers and some boilermen thus dispensed with; lumps were removed by a sifter instead of with spades. In the 1890s megasse, very widely used as fuel, was often fed to the boilers automatically saving the labour of several men (321). Although K.O. Laurence was describing the reality existent in the late 19th century, there is no evidence that the situation was different in the early 20th century. The mechanisation of production, made possible by labourers, turned against labour.

Organisational Challenges The 1930s also witnessed the proliferation of trade unions at a rate unlike any other period in the History of British Guiana and later Guyana. In 1919 the first union was formed with the name British Guiana Labour Union (BGLU). The union was formed by Mr. Hubert Nathaniel Critchlow who is now revered as the father of trade unionism in Guyana. In 1931, another union was formed by A.A. Thorne under the name the British Guiana Workers League (BGWL). In 1937, the Man Power Citizens Association (MPCA) was formed and chaired by Messr. Ramkisson Jacob and Ayube Edun. This union was very active among the sugar workers and attracted participation from a large cross-section of the sugar workers. The activities of the MPCA, complimented that of the BGLU in that the BGLU could have now focus its activities among the stevedores and other workers outside of the sugar industry. After the formation of the MPCA, and maybe influenced by its success among the sugar workers, there was a sudden proliferation of Unions in British Guiana. In 1938, the following unions were established: Transport Workers Union of British Guiana, British Guiana Post Office Workers Union, Subordinate Medical Employees Union, Subordinate Government Employees Association and the British Guiana Congress of General Workers. These unions were followed by the formation of the following unions in 1939: British Guiana Bakers Industrial Union, Demerara Overseers Association, British Guiana Clerks Association, Moulders Association of British Guiana, and British Guiana Sawyers Union. Apart from the need to coordinate the activities of these unions which was attempted by the formation of the British Guiana Trade Union Congress, the upsurge of these unions, inescapably, gave rise to personality clashes among the union heads. This also greatly affected the movement in the 1930s.

Structural Challenges The unions in the 1930s and pre-1930s have had to grapple with the issue of recognition and the regularization of labour and labour related issues. According to the Moynes Commission, it was until 1942 with the institution of the labour Ordinance that the colony sought to regularize issues (Chase 2006, 94). Before that time unions were operating, more or less, without any formal recognition and bargaining rights. What little progress they have happened to make was largely dependent on their ability to mobilize and influence large cross-section of workers at one time, as in the case of the BGLU and the MPCA. The Moyne Commission also outlined in its findings some of the other challenges faced by workers and their representatives. These challenges include no formal collective labour agreement, no laws in relation to picketing, lack of workmen compensation. It was not until the end of the decade

that bargaining rights was accorded to the MPCA followed by the BGLU (Tello 6). This right was achieved following a shooting incident at Leonora in 1938. After this incident, Mr. Edun pressed rigorously for bargaining right and achieved it, therefore, being the first Union to have been accorded that right. It must be noted however, that the right to bargain was previously championed by Mr. Critchlow and the BGLU as early as in the 1920s. Back then, however, these rights were difficult to obtain as employers argued that the BGLU had no legal standing to negotiate on the workers behalf. In addition, the colonial Government was very suspicious of the activities and objects of the BGLU and on that account delayed any effort which would result in bargaining right for the BGLU (Harry 1976, 13).

All the issues outlined above served as formidable challenges for the British Guiana labour movement. In spite of these challenges, and in some cases motivated by these challenges, the movement progressed and is responsible for many of the progressive developments in the colony. It is incontestable that the movement gave birth to some of the brightest minds and active bodies that were ultimately responsible for universal adult suffrage and political independence in Guyana.

Bibliography Chase, Ashton. (2006). A History of Trade Unionism in Guyana 1900 -1961 Harry, Carlyle. (1976) Critchlow: His Main Tasks and Achievements. Georgetown: Guyana Trade Union Congress. Hinds, Charles. Guyana: The Disturbances of the 1930s and Constitutional Reforms. Jainarain, Iserdeo. (1976). Trade and Underdevelopment: A Study of the Small Caribbean Countries and Large Multinational Corporations. Georgetown: Institute of Development Studies. Nath, D. (1975). A History of Guyana. London.

Tello, Rupert. Highlights and Growth of the Guyana Trade Union Movement