JNF-The-Working-Class-Struggle-of-Half-a-Century

With the passing of time, social and economic conditions
changed slowly. At the turn of the century, the working masses were
still subject to great disabilities. They were looked upon merely as the
labour force to produce the wealth of the islands. St. Kitts had been
numbered among the islands best suited for the production of sugar.
Over the years, the fortune of the industry rose and fell. However, at
that particular point in time, the outlook was bright.
In the report of the West India Commission, 1938, the position
was recorded as follows: During the war of 1914-18, with the British
market cut off from its chief sources of beet-sugar supply, the West Indian
sugar industry experienced a boom, and made large profits, reminiscent
of the spacious days of the eighteenth century. The sugar estates
therefore deemed it essential to maintain an adequate labour force to
make the most of the restoration of pros-perity. As the bulk of the
workers were landless, they were in the clutches of the employers. In
the country districts most workers lived in houses or villages belonging
to estates. A great many lived in trash houses, the only kind of dwelling
that they could own for themselves. No worker dared displease his employer
lest the well-being of his whole family would be in danger.
Blacklisting
It was common at that time for workers to be blacklisted. If one was
dismissed from his job on an estate, he would not only lose the privilege
of living on estate premises, but invariably he would also find that his
name had been sent on to managers of other estates who were told not
to employ him if he came there seeking work.
An incident involving a school boy was narrated by a teacher
who served at Estridge School. A worker went to an estate manager
and told him that the wage he had received on the last pay day was not
correct. The manager flew into a rage and questioned the worker as to
how he had come by that knowledge. The worker replied that his son
had checked the money and found it out. For some time the manager
continued fuming and finally threatened to turn the man off the estate.
Another example of the land owners' grip on the masses was
seen on a neighboring estate. A worker was told seriously by his man-
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