The British West Indian labour unrest of 1934– 39 encompassed a series of disturbances, strikes and riots in the United Kingdom's Caribbean colonies. 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. Causes Each labour rebellion had its own particular circumstances, but a common pattern can be discerned: the underlying causes were economic. With the exception of the mineral-extractive industries - oil in Trinidad and bauxite in British Guiana - the British West Indian economies were largely dependent on a narrow range of agricultural exports.In Barbados in 1928, sugar and its byproducts were 95\% of all exports, in St Kitts-Nevis 86\%, in Antigua 75\%, in Guiana 60\% and in St Lucia 45\%. The price per ton in Guyana fell from £26/ton in 1920-24 to £12/ton in 1925-29 and £6/ton in 1930-39 . Canterbury, p.59 Thus, they were highly vulnerable to reduced demand or a serious downturn in Britain and Europe. The sugar industry, which remained the mainstay of the colonial economies, had long been in a critical state but had revived during World War I as warfare disrupted European sugar beet production. In the postwar years, sugar prices fell sharply as world supply exceeded effective demand. The British government's policy of subsidizing domestic sugar beet production further depressed prices. The prices of other agricultural staples, including cocoa, coconuts, limes and bananas, also slumped to unprofitable levels due to worldwide overproduction. In some cases agricultural commodities suffered from the effects of plant diseases and hurricane damage. The crisis in the colonial economy was exacerbated by the global economic Depression which further reduced demand for British Caribbean exports in the 1930s. The pervasive economic Depression in the colonies had far-reaching consequences for the working classes. Employers in some industries drastically reduced wages. Social conditions deteriorated as unemployment and underemployment increased (which an inadequate social welfare system could not address), factors which were worsened by sharply increased population growth, itself the result of a significant downward trend in the region's mortality rate as health conditions improved. The cost of living also went up: it was a sudden upsurge in 1937-38 that led to strikes in Jamaica.Weiner, p.183 Emigration outlets were closed, which created a frustrating sense of being shut in and of being denied opportunity and choice.Levine, Barry B. The Caribbean Exodus, p.24. Greenwood Publishing Group (1987), In addition, there was a general increase in nationalist and pro-independence sentiments in the 1930s. The labour unions were organised as general political organisations or broad-based social movements. They campaigned for better wages and working conditions, the transformation of the colonial system and political independence for the colonies. Moreover, West Indians had rising expectations, as many had travelled abroad and experienced living conditions in Britain and the US. They wanted the same high standard of living at home, wished to be accorded respect as trained professionals and desired opportunities for upward mobility. Instead, they remained trapped in the system's political, economic, social, colour and racial hierarchies. Ideologies such as Marxism and Fabian socialism gained currency.Canterbury, p.59 -60 In Jamaica, the settlement of the 1938 unrest laid the foundations for that country's modern party system. Alexander Bustamante led a strike on the Frome Estate Sugar Plantation after a wage-and-hours dispute. The excitement generated there quickly spread to dockworkers and street cleaners, ultimately producing a general strike suppressed by British forces. Bustamante was jailed for seventeen months, becoming a labour martyr; his cousin Norman Manley helped settle the strike. Manley quickly became so popular that by September, he had organised the People's National Party with the support of the Trade Union Congress (later to become the National Workers' Union). Bustamante, once released, began to organise his own party, and in 1943, strongly backed by the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU), which he led, founded the Jamaica Labour Party.Weiner, p .183 -4 The two parties have remained dominant ever since. Other leaders identified with working class aspirations emerged, including Grantley Adams of Barbados, who served as legal counsel for some of those arrested in 1937; and Albert Gomes of Trinidad, who became a popular political speaker during this period and was elected to the Port of Spain City Council.
The British West Indian labour unrest of 1934– 1939 encompassed a series of disturbances, strikes and riots in the United Kingdom's Caribbean colonies. 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. Causes Each labour rebellion had its own particular circumstances, but a common pattern can be discerned: the underlying causes were economic. With the exception of the mineral-extractive industries - oil in Trinidad and bauxite in British Guiana - the British West Indian economies were largely dependent on a narrow range of agricultural exports.In Barbados in 1928, sugar and its byproducts were 95\% of all exports, in St Kitts-Nevis 86\%, in Antigua 75\%, in Guiana 60\% and in St Lucia 45\%. The price per ton in Guyana fell from £26/ton in 1920-1924 to £12/ton in 1925-1929 and £6/ton in 1930-1939 . Canterbury, p.59 Thus, they were highly vulnerable to reduced demand or a serious downturn in Britain and Europe. The sugar industry, which remained the mainstay of the colonial economies, had long been in a critical state but had revived during World War I as warfare disrupted European sugar beet production. In the postwar years, sugar prices fell sharply as world supply exceeded effective demand. The British government's policy of subsidizing domestic sugar beet production further depressed prices. The prices of other agricultural staples, including cocoa, coconuts, limes and bananas, also slumped to unprofitable levels due to worldwide overproduction. In some cases agricultural commodities suffered from the effects of plant diseases and hurricane damage. The crisis in the colonial economy was exacerbated by the global economic Depression which further reduced demand for British Caribbean exports in the 1930s. The pervasive economic Depression in the colonies had far-reaching consequences for the working classes. Employers in some industries drastically reduced wages. Social conditions deteriorated as unemployment and underemployment increased (which an inadequate social welfare system could not address), factors which were worsened by sharply increased population growth, itself the result of a significant downward trend in the region's mortality rate as health conditions improved. The cost of living also went up: it was a sudden upsurge in 1937-1938 that led to strikes in Jamaica.Weiner, p.183 Emigration outlets were closed, which created a frustrating sense of being shut in and of being denied opportunity and choice.Levine, Barry B. The Caribbean Exodus, p.24. Greenwood Publishing Group (1987), In addition, there was a general increase in nationalist and pro-independence sentiments in the 1930s. The labour unions were organised as general political organisations or broad-based social movements. They campaigned for better wages and working conditions, the transformation of the colonial system and political independence for the colonies. Moreover, West Indians had rising expectations, as many had travelled abroad and experienced living conditions in Britain and the US. They wanted the same high standard of living at home, wished to be accorded respect as trained professionals and desired opportunities for upward mobility. Instead, they remained trapped in the system's political, economic, social, colour and racial hierarchies. Ideologies such as Marxism and Fabian socialism gained currency.Canterbury, p.59 –60 In Jamaica, the settlement of the 1938 unrest laid the foundations for that country's modern party system. Alexander Bustamante led a strike on the Frome Estate Sugar Plantation after a wage-and-hours dispute. The excitement generated there quickly spread to dockworkers and street cleaners, ultimately producing a general strike suppressed by British forces. Bustamante was jailed for seventeen months, becoming a labour martyr; his cousin Norman Manley helped settle the strike. Manley quickly became so popular that by September, he had organised the People's National Party with the support of the Trade Union Congress (later to become the National Workers' Union). Bustamante, once released, began to organise his own party, and in 1943, strongly backed by the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU), which he led, founded the Jamaica Labour Party.Weiner, pp .183 –184 The two parties have remained dominant ever since. Other leaders identified with working class aspirations emerged, including Grantley Adams of Barbados, who served as legal counsel for some of those arrested in 1937; and Albert Gomes of Trinidad, who became a popular political speaker during this period and was elected to the Port of Spain City Council.
R
39
1939
R
1920-24
1920-1924
R
1925-29
1925-1929
R
1930-39
1930-1939
R
1937-38
1937-1938
R
-60
–60
R
p
pp
R
-4
–184