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

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There was no reply from London. Twenty two months later the League forwarded a petition. It was dated 8 th October, 1934, and pointed out that the letter of 9 th December, 1932, was unanswered. The petition continued: Receipt of this letter was acknowledged by His Honour the Administrator of this presidency. As no further reply was received, Your Petitioners wrote to His Honour the Administrator on the 30 th January,1934, referring to their letter of the 9 th December,1932. His Honour replied on the 6 th February, 1934, stating that no reply had been received to our letter on the 9 th February, 1932, but that the matter was still the subject of correspondence with the Secretary of State. Eight months have elapsed since the last letter was received and as your petitioners regard this matter as being of greatest importance to them they feel that the time has come when a petition should be addressed to you. Your petitioners have noted that since the promise referred to above, legislation dealing with workmen’s compensation has been enacted in the colony of Trinidad and Tobago, in the colony of Mauritius and in other British colonies, and your petitioners feel that the promise made should be fulfilled also in this colony... The conditions under which laborers are employed at St.Kitts (Basseterre) Sugar Factory where there is always the danger of being injured by heavy machinery which must necessarily be used in such a factory, calls for some measures of protection for those employed. This is true not only with regard to workers in the factory, but with regard to all who are engaged in manual labour in the Island. Having regard to the foregoing facts Your Petitioners therefore humbly pray that you will be pleased to give direction that a Workmen’s Compensation law be enacted in the presidency on similar basis to the Workmen’s Compensation Law now enforced in the United Kingdom. On 15 th February,1935, the League was officially informed in connection with the petition that the Secretary of State had directed the Governor to defer the introduction of proposed 65
legislation pending consideration of variance between several similar bills submitted to him by West Indian colonies and between those bills and the model ordinance. The Workers’ League had thus gained much ground; but there was a good deal more to cover. Steadfastly the League re-inforced the drive to organise the workers, and galvanised them to press for industrial reform. The force of newspaper publicity formed part of the campaign. The League featured a weekly column of its own in the Messenger to rally the reading public in support of the workers’ cause. The Messenger itself was an ally in the crusade. So there it was. The model for the first compensation law had been sent out from London; but before it reached the legislative body, the Secretary of State was taking another look at it... Fair enough so far. The Secretary of State took time to consider the differences between several drafts of compensation laws submitted to him by the West Indian colonies. Finally a model ordinance prepared in London was decided upon and sent out as a guide. It was considered and passed into law in the Leeward Islands on 24 th November.1937. The first fruit of the League’s work in this field had materialized. Both the employers and the Government now started to pay more regards to human suffering and set a value to human life. It was a notable achievement to get the law enacted. However, it was later discovered that certain parts needed improvement, even at this early stage. In fact, there is nothing under the sun that cannot be improved. 1938 Commission The Workers’ League spared no effort in bringing these weak spots of the law under the spot light. In 1938 a Royal commission was sent to the West Indies to investigate social and economic condi-tions. The League’s delegation presented a memorandum. Among ills of the country which were brought to the Commission’s attention were some of the disadvantages falling on the workers in the event of injuries and death arising out of their employment. The employers were free of liability. The chairman of the Commission was Lord Moyne. The League’s delegation consisted of its principal officers led by Mr. T. Manchester, the 66
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J. N. FRANCE ______________________
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© 2015 Published by The National A
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Preface The Working Class struggle
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1 EARLY VISION Where is this countr
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With the passing of time, social an
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This early attempt at workers' orga
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post as a school teacher to succeed
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For several years the pressure was
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and school houses are being used fo
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housing condition arising from the
Page 23 and 24: 3 PREPARING THE GROUND The thought
Page 25 and 26: That impressive English story told
Page 27 and 28: they had accumulated £28 with whic
Page 29 and 30: Commons that since the colony of th
Page 31 and 32: 1922, some of the members of Legisl
Page 33 and 34: On 30 th August 1932 the Dominica T
Page 35 and 36: country and I regard British Guiana
Page 37 and 38: Mr. Marryshow then raised his tone
Page 39: Delegates to the West India Confere
Page 42 and 43: The conference opened its proceedin
Page 44 and 45: protests can be ignored with impuni
Page 46 and 47: Closer Union Commission widened to
Page 48 and 49: He said it was a privilege to him t
Page 50 and 51: possible, an education that must be
Page 52 and 53: and suffering, and in such a condit
Page 54 and 55: The land forming the Hospital compo
Page 56 and 57: ing able to grant the request of th
Page 58 and 59: prison sentences for what was commo
Page 60 and 61: sinned against the Factory. Theirs
Page 62 and 63: 9 FROM PAUPER RELIEF TO PROVIDENT B
Page 64 and 65: 1954 declared the first Monday in M
Page 66 and 67: it has proposed to interfere will b
Page 68 and 69: Change When the League came on the
Page 70 and 71: Children of the working class. 61
Page 72 and 73: had just dumped out a load of cane
Page 76 and 77: president. When the delegation gave
Page 78 and 79: Under the law of 1937 only a limite
Page 80 and 81: Workers who would have benefited fr
Page 82 and 83: Grenada, and will seek to work in a
Page 84 and 85: Ferguson, Chairman of the Commissio
Page 86 and 87: Now let me say in the first place t
Page 88 and 89: We should like to refer to West Ind
Page 90 and 91: in West Indies there is a considera
Page 92 and 93: The 1932 Commissioners commented on
Page 94 and 95: not regard it as essential that the
Page 96 and 97: official news of its adoption by th
Page 98 and 99: gravity of the situation to the att
Page 100 and 101: On 13 th December, 1934 an unusuall
Page 102 and 103: employed by those who demand the ad
Page 104 and 105: concerning the right for the workin
Page 106 and 107: come relief to a grateful people an
Page 108 and 109: vance towards the goal of the Feder
Page 110 and 111: members of the Council. Mr. Marrysh
Page 112 and 113: see no reason why we should be give
Page 114 and 115: Unofficial Majority on the Legislat
Page 116 and 117: tional reform movement in this Pres
Page 118 and 119: combine to give the Closer Union Sc
Page 120 and 121: prominent part in marking the close
Page 122 and 123: when the slaves were set free, and
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The people in those days took it fo
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Sugar Factory workers were “chast
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At West Farm the marchers were prev
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Some of the men, it was alleged, we
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gear was damaged and the employees
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Inspector of Police and Magistrate
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H.M.S. Leander arrived in the port
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satisfied that the action taken by
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16 THE FIRST ELECTION The clash of
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opposed to it. The 1936 Constitutio
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important matter, I promise the Ele
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could have no better representative
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whether it was a fact that the St.
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existing, it is not considered that
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17 THE 1938 ROYAL COMMISSION The 19
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A: Any law-abiding citizen over 16
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appeared and presented the case of
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18 A STAKE IN THE COUNTRY Land owne
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culture and Commercial Society. The
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After this, the land would vest abs
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age. In the following month, Januar
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19 MARCUS GARVEY IN ST. KITTS St. K
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When he made man he said, ‘By the
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oil underneath his feet. Englishmen
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is a little four-page newspaper. Yo
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provided the major portion of the e
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which should be paid for the variou
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In April 1969 the Minister of Labou
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21 POWER OF THE PRESS During first
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Commission headed by Sir Charles Fe
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President wrote, The issues are too
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the sea. The effects were terrible
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mendous crowd packed the Mutual Imp
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territory, the success of the past
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the notice, was that employees were
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