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Oilfields Workers' Trade Union | |
Founded | 25 July 1937 |
---|---|
Headquarters | San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago |
Location | |
Members | 11000 |
Key people | Ancel Roget, President General |
Affiliations | ICEM FITUN |
Website | www.owtu.org |
The Oilfields Workers' Trade Union (OWTU) is one of the most powerful trade unions in Trinidad and Tobago. Currently led by Ancel Roget, the union was born out of the 1937 labour riots, the union was nominally led by the imprisoned TUB Butler but was actually organised by lawyer Adrian Cola Rienzi.
The union was established on 25 July 1937, and formally registered on 15 September. The first meetings were held in Fyzabad, and the first official headquarters were established on Coffee Street, San Fernando. [1] The first official meeting of the Union was held on 15 July 1937, at Mr. Williams quarters, Coon Town, Forest Reserve, Fyzabad. The first officers elected to office were Caleb Roach, chairman, McDonald Moses, Vice President, E. R. Blades, Secretary and E. Bennet, Treasurer. The OWTU was formally established just days later on 25 July 1937, at its Founding Conference, held at Saltfish Hall, Mucurapo Street in San Fernando. The Union was registered on 15 September 1937.
With Butler having to go into hiding after 19 June, due to a warrant for his arrest on sedition and treason charges, a leader emerged – Adrian Cola Rienzi – who became the Union's first President General. Rienzi also became the first President of the All Trinidad Sugar Estates and Factory Workers' Trade Union (ATSEFWTU). At the same time, McDonald Moses was made Vice President of both the OWTU and the ATSEFWTU unions. The OWTU's first Central Office established at 16 Coffee Street in San Fernando was also shared by the ATSEFWTU. The Blue Shirt uniform for which the OWTU is well known has been worn since the 1930s.
From the mid-1930s, workers began to express their discontent through increasingly militant actions. Unemployment was high and wages which were low were reduced even as the employer class sought to ensure that they lost little in the face of the global economic crisis precipitated by the Wall Street crash of 1929 and the Great Depression that followed. In addition to the many issues related to the poor working and social conditions which prevailed, these struggles also had a very important political dimension. The workers were also struggling against colonialism as evidenced by their call for "Home Rule". They knew that achieving independence would be a means to improving the conditions that they were then facing.
In this period of heightened mobilization against these injustices, a leader emerged – Tubal Uriah "Buzz" Butler. Under his leadership the strike began on 19 June 1937 – the day Trinidad and Tobago commemorates today as Labour Day. The strike soon spread throughout Trinidad and involved all major sectors of workers (dockworkers, sugar workers, cocoa estate workers, railway workers and store workers) in the island. The uprising lasted until 2 July, and the colonial authorities required the intervention of British troops from two battleships the Exeter and the Ajax to quell the protests. During this strike, 14 people died, including that of policeman, Charlie King, hundreds were injured and many persons were arrested. [2]
Under John F.F. Rojas leadership the OWTU became a founding member of the World Federation of Trade Unions.
In the 1960s and 1970s, under the leadership of George Weekes, [3] the union grew into a potent political force, playing a role in the Black Power movement in 1970 and playing a role in the foundation of the United Labour Front. This was the most powerful of the mass actions that were taking place across the Caribbean, as the working class throughout the region were taking a stand and making their voices heard as they struggled against the poor working conditions which they were experiencing. At the same time, the vast majority of workers faced social conditions such as very poor housing, inadequate health care, the lack of educational opportunities and racial discrimination, among other ills.
Championed the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
The history of Trinidad and Tobago begins with the settlements of the islands by Indigenous First Peoples. Trinidad was visited by Christopher Columbus on his third voyage in 1498,, and claimed in the name of Spain. Trinidad was administered by Spanish hands until 1797, but it was largely settled by French colonists. Tobago changed hands between the British, French, Dutch, and Courlanders, but eventually ended up in British hands following the second Treaty of Paris (1814). In 1889, the two islands were incorporated into a single political entity. Trinidad and Tobago obtained its independence from the British Empire in 1962 and became a republic in 1976.
Tubal Uriah "Buzz" Butler, was a Grenadian-born Spiritual Baptist preacher and labour leader in Trinidad and Tobago. He is best known for leading a series of labour riots between 19 June and 6 July 1937 and for forming a series of personalist political parties that focused its platform on the improvement of the working class.
San Fernando, officially the City of San Fernando, is the most populous city and second most populous municipality in Trinidad and Tobago, after Chaguanas. Sando, as it is known to many local Trinidadians, occupies 19 km2 and is located in the southwestern part of the island of Trinidad. It is bounded to the north by the Guaracara River, the south by the Oropouche River, the east by the Sir Solomon Hochoy Highway, and the west by the Gulf of Paria. The former borough was elevated to the status of a city corporation on 18 November 1988. The motto of San Fernando is: "Sanitas Fortis" - In a Healthy Environment We Will Find Strength. San Fernando is called Trinidad and Tobago's "industrial capital" because of its proximity to the Pointe-à-Pierre oil refinery and many other petrochemical, LNG, iron and steel and aluminium smelters in places such as Point Lisas in Couva, Point Fortin, and La Brea.
The British Empire Citizens' and Workers' Home Rule Party, also known as the Butler Home Rule Party and more commonly as the Butler Party, were a series of political parties in Trinidad and Tobago organised by Tubal Uriah Butler.
The Democratic Labour Party was the main opposition party in Trinidad and Tobago from 1957 till 1976. That party was the party which opposed the People's National Movement (PNM) at the time of Independence. After several splits brought about by leadership struggles, the party lost its hold on the Indo-Trinidadian community in the 1976 General Elections and was displaced in parliament by the United Labour Front under the leadership of Basdeo Panday, a former DLP senator. The party was the representative of the ethnic Indian community in the country; however Indian Muslims and Christians were said to be less loyal to the party than Indian Hindus.
Fyzabad is a town in southwestern Trinidad, 13 km (8.1 mi) south of San Fernando, west of Siparia and northeast of Point Fortin. It is named after the town of Faizabad in India. Colloquially it is known as "Fyzo" by many people.
The Black Power Revolution, also known as the Black Power Movement, 1970 Revolution, Black Power Uprising or February Revolution, was a period of political unrest in Trinidad and Tobago as a result of a series of actions spearheaded by Black power and left-wing political groups in the country aiming to achieve radical socio-political changes.
Social unrest has shaped the development of Trinidad and Tobago since the middle of the 19th century. Attempts by the British colonial government to crack down on the celebration of Carnival sparked the Canboulay Riots in 1881 and 1884. Attempts to control the celebration of Hosay by the Indian population culminated in the Hosay Riots in 1884. In the early 20th century, the Water riots culminated in the destruction of the Red House, the seat of government, by a mob of protestors.
All Trinidad Sugar Estates and Factory Workers Union, founded by Adrian Cola Rienzi was the major sugar workers' trade union and the predominant Indo-Trinidadian voice in organised labour in Trinidad and Tobago between the 1930s and 1970s. Leadership of the trade union passed from Rienzi to the Vice President, McDonald Moses, then Bhadase Sagan Maraj, and later to Krishna Gowandan.
Adrian Cola Rienzi was a Trinidadian trade unionist, civil rights activist, politician and lawyer.
Nelson Island is one of the Five Islands which lie west of Port of Spain in the Gulf of Paria.
The All Trinidad Sugar and General Workers' Trade Union (ATSGWTU) is a trade union in Trinidad and Tobago. It was founded in 1937 to represent workers in the sugar industry, but expanded its scope in 1978 to include workers in a variety of sectors.
Clotil Walcott was a trade unionist in Trinidad and Tobago.
A series of workplace disturbances, strikes, and riots broke out across the British West Indies in the period between 1934 and 1939. These began as the Great Depression wore on and ceased on the eve of World War II. The unrest served to highlight inequalities of wealth, led the British government to attempt a solution to the problem, and in some cases spurred the development of indigenous party politics that would lead to self-government and independence in the postwar period.
Alexander Ekanayake Gunasinha was a Sri Lankan trade unionist and politician. A pioneering trade union leader, known as the "Father of the Labour Movement", he was the founder of the Ceylon Labour Party, Sri Lanka's first labour organisation. A former mayor of Colombo, he served as the Minister without portfolio, Minister of State and Chief Government Whip in the First Parliament of Sri Lanka and Ceylon's Ambassador to Burma and Indonesia.
The Trinidad Labour Party was a political party in Trinidad and Tobago. Formed in 1934 when the Trinidad Workingmen's Association changed its name, it was the country's first party.
Elma Francois was an Africentric Socialist political activist who, on 14 October 1987, was declared as a "national heroine of Trinidad and Tobago". She had been described as one of the "vociferous Africentric activists" in the history of Trinidad and Tobago and in the Caribbean region. She was known for her pro-trade union, anti-war and anti-colonial work.
Norris Chrisleventon "Buzz" Johnson, generally known as Buzz Johnson, was a Tobago-born publisher and activist who in the 1970s relocated to England, UK. There he set up a small publishing company called Karia Press, based in east London, producing books relevant to community and race relations, and making available and better known the work of many key writers, including Claudia Jones, whom he is credited with having "rediscovered".
National Solidarity Assembly is a political party in Trinidad and Tobago. It is the political arm of the All Trinidad General Worker's Trade Union. Union President Nirvan Maharaj formed the NSA, and sits as interim political leader, after years of struggle, making representation to past government administrations, for the implementation of a court order for the effective honoring of V.S.E.P. to the former workers of the Caroni (1975) ltd. In frustration, due to their unresponsive and uncooperative stance, and the dire need, for better representation for the people of Trinidad & Tobago, a new political party was born at the Rienzi Complex, Couva. National Solidarity Assembly's majority of membership is the former workers of Caroni (1975) ltd.