The National Congress of Trade Unions Salutes the
Working Man
From Burma Road to Majority Rule
Message from Jennifer Isaacs Dotson
President – The National Congress of
Trade Unions of The Bahamas
“We must learn to live together as brothers or we are going to perish together as fools.” Martin Luther King Jr.
Workers, it is now time for a new Majority Rule! Will we as workers continue to allow the elite and non-Bahamians to get all the benefits this
country has to offer? Will we continue to allow the middle class to disappear? There has to be a dream that we can also aspire to and also
achieve. But as Sir Clifford said, “It is not reverse discrimination but elitism.”
How do we get rid of elitism? It is time, sisters and brothers, to now truly support the Union, particularly as we now operate in an anti-union
environment throughout our country. It is so simple but yet we continue to fall prey to the old divide and conquer method. Let us all cut out the
bickering, backbiting, backstabbing, gossiping, conniving, manipulating, two-facedness, and, in essence, being duplicitous; it is time to be united.
Majority Rule in 1967 paved the path for the Bahamas and the trade union movement. Therefore, all workers in our country must realize that we
are the movers and shakers here. It is time to put aside politics, personalities and anything that keeps us divided and to show all that we, the
workers of our country, must again make decisions that advance our country to the next level.
Let us all today recommit to supporting the Union by being our sisters and brothers’ keepers. Workers, wake up and realize that you are the
change that will make a difference. In the words of President Barack Obama, “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or if we wait
for some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” Solidarity, for the Union makes us strong!
Bay Street was a shambles late this afternoon with Nassau’s main thoroughfare deserted except for detachments
of armed troops and policemen patrolling the City. It was the aftermath of the biggest and most disastrous riot in
the history of the Colony.
The trouble started yesterday after men on the site of a vast project now under way in New Providence staged a
strike in protest against wages being paid. In consequence of the strike, representatives of the Government met
labor leaders and it was agreed that the men would go back to work pending negotiations.
It appears that this morning the men did not go to work but marched into the city to stage a demonstration in
the Public Square. By the time the procession reached the city, the number had swelled to thousands. Almost
every plate glass window in George Street, including the Red Cross Centre and on Bay Street as far east as the
Public Square was smashed. Men broke into shops looting dry goods, shoes, groceries, perfumes and merchandise
of all descriptions. Terrified shop keepers and clerks barricaded themselves in the stores. Bay Street was a
seething mass of humanity. All through the morning, the city was under a Reign of Terror.
At the outbreak of the riot the police were called out. By the time they were able to take steps, the whole of
lower Bay Street had been wrecked and the crowds had reached the Public Square. The situation was already
beyond the control of the police and the British Forces were summoned for emergency duty.
Labor leaders and the representative citizens tried to restore order but they were shouted down and in some
cases attacked. Isolated groups ranged as far east as Armstrong Street, looting stores.
Troops, police and rioters fought up and down Bay Street. Eventually, early in the afternoon, the city was
cleared and Bay Street lay deserted in a mass of wreckage.
During the day, the Riot Act was read and the armed forces were given orders to use force if necessary. A
curfew was ordered from 8 o’clock tonight to 6 o’ clock tomorrow morning and the populations was warned that no
one should appear in the streets except in cases of emergency , in which even they should stop immediately on
being challenged. The armed forces have been given authority to take all necessary steps. The curfew will remain
in force nightly until further notice.
A deputation of Bay Street merchants waited on His Excellency, the Acting Governor today. This afternoon, the
scene of the disturbance shifted into Grant’s Town. All traffic between the Southern District and the City was
stopped. Rioters fought pitched battles with the armed forces and several casualties resulted. An ambulance was
taken over by the rioters in Grant’s Town and was eventually burned up.
Burma Road
Workers
Revolt!
Rioters Leave Bay Street in
Ruins
The Nassau Daily Tribune
Monday June 1st, 1942
Labour Unite or Perish
The Rise of the Trade Union Movement in The Bahamas
1955 – A Call to Action
(continued from column 1) Had they done so, then a living wage could have
been won at the bargaining table. The ill effects of a riot could have been
forestalled. Families of these forgotten men could have been better cared for
and a community would have been at peace with itself.
There was no labor union formed for the construction of Oakes Field. There
was no Labor Board, and so these men, bereft of leadership, had no other
course but to rebel in order to secure those things which the law did not allow
them to obtain in a legitimate fashion .
Today, the Bahamas is on the eve of building a new international airport not
too far distant from the notorious Oakes Field. Whether there shall be a
reoccurrence of the first of June depends on how well Bahamian labor – skilled
and unskilled is organized. Labor cannot expect much help from this present
Government, which in the past, has offered them nothing except a shameful
compromise on great principles.
Can a single worker bargain with any of these organizations on an equal
footing?
No never.
What can labor unions guarantee you? Let me tell you:
“The social and economic situation in The Bahamas when I left for America in April, 1954, differed
from that to which I returned in May, 1955 in two important respects – the birth of the multi
national corporation and the advent of the Progressive Liberal Party. To these two forces a third
movement was soon to be added – The Bahamas Federation of Labor. For the next twelve years
these symbols of Capital, Politics and Labor dominated the Bahamian scene.”
The Faith that
Moved the Mountain (Chapter 6) Sir Randol F. Fawkes
Labor at the Crossroads
Sir Randol Fawkes – 1955
•It assures you job security against being fired without just cause.
•It guarantees you a wage on which you and your family can live more
comfortably.
•It sets up a seniority clause putting an end to the practice of “first employed to
be first fired.”
•In union agreements with the employers, there is a clause whereby the
employer is authorized to deduct, on the first of each month, union dues and
to remit same promptly to the union.
•It sponsors a “group insurance” clause that demands the employer to institute
and maintain a uniform insurance plan providing for sick and insurance
benefits.
Do you still wish to know what a union means to you?
Remember the first of June, 1942? How can you ever forget it?
This was the day when Nassau experienced its first labor crisis.
Disorganized workers at Oakes Field tried in vain to reach agreement with their
employers on matters of wages, hours and conditions of work. The American authorities
desired to pay Bahamians an equitable wage but local officials objected. As a result the
disgruntled and thoroughly dissatisfied laborers marched “en masse” along Bay Street
bringing destruction with them in the wake of every step. Shops were looted. Men
wounded and many a city merchant became panic stricken. The Riot Act was read: every
policeman alerted. An S.O.S. was dispatched to the Bahamas Defense Company. The
Duke of Windsor, in a broadcast from Washington, D.C., made an urgent appeal to the
workers. At last at 9:00p.m. and only after a curfew had been invoked was the quiet of
the night secured.
The time for decision had arrived.
But it may as well had not come for the leaders were not prepared to accept their full
responsibility. This was their chance to begin to organize labor everywhere (continued in
next column).
•It means more jobs for you that would ordinarily go to the foreigner.
•It means more pounds in your pockets and more bread on your breakfast
table.
•It means that you can stop the leak in your roof, and patch the hole in your
shoe.
•It means better education for your children in the West Indian University and a
square deal before the Bar of Justice in a Court of Appeal.
Call the roll of all the laws that have helped the common man in America and
you will have a good history of labor unions.
For more information on the trade union
movement in The Bahamas, please visit:
www.nctu-bahamas.org and
www.sirrandolfawkes.com
Campaign Literature 1956 (photo above).
LET’S CLIMB WITH THE PROGRESSIVE LIBERAL PARTY!!!
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
A written constitution based on universal suffrage and proportional representation
New labor laws: old age pensions and health insurance; workmen’s compensation
Better representation of the masses on public boards of the Colony
Utilization of out island resources
Association with the University of West Indies ; free trade and high schools
Democracy in the Civil Service
Fairer distribution of the Colony’s wealth.
Town Planning: Development of Southern District
A Court of Appeal for the Colony
Anti-segration laws
A square deal for the worker
A national bank
The Magnificent Six – The first six members of the P.L.P. to be elected to Parliament.
Seated from left: Randol Fawkes, Cyril Stevenson and Clarence A. Bain. Standing from
left are: Lynden O. Pindling, Milo B. Butler and Samuel Isaacs. These men were called
“The Magnificent Six” as the people looked to them to bring about political, social and
economic reform.
Dear Friend,
The time is nigh at hand when you shall have to choose whether you want progress or
whether you want stagnation!
As candidates of the Progressive Liberal Party we stand four square behind the
dreams, hopes and aspirations of our people; for we realize that only by working
together as a team can we overcome the numerous obstacles that have in the past
bound us hands and feet.
WE ARE DETERMINED TO BREAK THESE CHAINS!
The cause for which we strive is the cause of Righteous Government. This crusade is
too big for anyone of us to win alone. We are therefore asking you to join hands with
us in order that together, we, as a people, may take our rightful place in our native
land.
IT IS TIME FOR A CHANGE!!
Lynden Pindling
Randol Fawkes
PLP CANDIDATES FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT
In celebration of Majority Rule Day, President Nicole Martin,
officers, organizers and staff of The Bahamas Hotel Catering
and Allied Workers Union are pleased to offer congratulations
and best wishes to our members for their contribution to
nation building.
Sudsidaries: Bahamas Hotel Investments Ltd., Workers
Academy & Child Care Centre, Workers Wash, Bahamas Hotel &
Allied Industries Pension fund, National Workers Co-operative
Credit Union
The General Strike of 1958
The original workers’ dispute surfaced in November of 1957 when the Government
granted to the white tour companies the exclusive right to operate a transportation
service between the new Nassau International Airport and the city.
The white tour companies anticipated a huge increase in business and so they
purchased a fleet of cars and buses and informed members of the Bahamas Taxi Cab
Union that their services were no longer required. The officers of the taxi cab union
were distraught at the thought of losing their business. Their livelihood and the
ability to provide for their families were definitely being threatened.
So it was on Nov 1, 1957 that the Taxi Cab Union, under the leadership of Sir
Clifford Darling and others, blocked all traffic to and from Nassau International
Airport and there was nothing that the Commissioner and his policeman could do
about the situation.
After several weeks of negotiations and no hope of a settlement in sight, the Taxi
Cab Union called on The Bahamas Federation of Labor led by Sir Randol Fawkes and
asked for assistance.
Sir Randol responded with the urgency that the situation required and at a meeting
of the Bahamas Federation of Labour, he presented a motion that stated that the
B.F.of L. “should call a General Strike to aid the Taxi Union and to dramatize the fight
of all Bahamians for greater dignity and self-respect on the jobsite through decent
wages and better working conditions.” The motion was unanimously carried.
The strike came at the height of the tourist season. There was no violence by the
striking workers. For the duration of the strike, both men and women picketed and
boycotted leading Bay Street businesses.
BFSU
Sir Raynor Arthur, the Governor, had alerted the Commander of the Caribbean
area about the incident and asked for a company of British troops to be sent from
Jamaica. He initially feared that the tense racial situation might result in disorder and
violence.
Bahamas Financial
Services Union
On January 29th, 1958, His Excellency at last brought representatives of the Tour
Companies and the Taxi-Union together at a top level conference. At the end of the
talks, the officers of each organization signed a detailed agreement providing for the
more equitable division of transportation of passengers to and from the airport.
Moreover, as a result of the General Strike, additional labor reforms came about as
well. Within three months of the strike, a senior British cabinet minister was in
Nassau pushing for constitutional reforms and later in the year, legislation was
passed to set up a Labor Department and a process for industrial conciliation.
The following year saw the abolition of the company vote; extension of the
franchise to all men over 21; the creation of four new parliamentary seats (all of
which were later won by the PLP); reduction of the plural vote to two; full adult male
suffrage regardless of property qualifications; the right of hotel and agricultural
workers to join unions and the B.F. of L. won substantial wage increases and
overtime pay for construction workers at the Nassau Beach Lodge.
Theresa Mortimer - President
KNOW YOUR UNION, KNOW YOUR RIGHTS
THE BFSU IS THE VOICE OF ITS MEMBERS AND PROVIDES A SYSTEM OF
REDRESS FOR MEMBERS’ COMPLAINTS.
The Bahamas Financial Services Union was established to protect,
promote and advance the working conditions and entitlements of its
members within the Financial Sector of The Bahamas. The principal
activities of the union are:
• representing members in workplace and negotiating with employers.
• representing members at the Labor Department (Conciliation
Department) and Industrial Tribunal on matters relevant to workplace
issues.
Labour Day
Dr. Elwood Donaldson, Sir Randol and Lady Fawkes – Labor Day 1987
An Act to Constitute Labor Day a Public Holiday
Labor Day was created to honor the Bahamian worker and to
celebrate the contributions that working men and women have made
to Bahamian life and prosperity.
The first Labor day was celebrated on June 1st, 1956, and the
executives of the B.F. of L. planned a mammoth parade in order to
exhibit the strength of the Labor movement.
Although Labor Day was marked and celebrated in 1956, the first
official Labor Day was in 1962.
The President, Executives and Members Of The
Union of Tertiary Educators of The Bahamas
(UTEB) salute our forefathers in the trade union
movement as we celebrate Majority Rule.
Legislation was necessary to make Labor Day a public holiday and
this meant piloting a bill through the House of Assembly. Why did Sir
Randol think that it was necessary to have an official Labor Day
Holiday? He thought that “a day should be set aside and designated
as ‘Labor Day’ as a fitting memorial to the contributions made by the
working people to the progress of the Colony.”
We salute Sir Randol Fawkes the premier trade unionist
who paved the way for majority rule in 1967.
When Sir Randol spoke to laboring masses on the first official Labor
Day in 1962, he reflected on the first of June morning in 1942 when
men and women went on a rampage on Bay Street and demanded
better working conditions on the jobsite.
We extend sincere condolences to Sir Clifford Darling’s
family on his passing and salute this outstanding giant in
the trade union movement. We salute all of the
outstanding Sisters and Brothers who have brought the
trade Union movement to where it is today and to the new
heights it will be climbing in the future.
Unity Truth Excellence Benevolence
“Thanks to them,” said Sir Randol, “we now have learned how to
substitute the Conference Table for the Riot Act!”
Bay Street Boys Could Not Buy Randol Fawkes
The Miami Herald
Jim Bishop
February 6th, 1967
Nassau, Bahamas - The election returns came in sporadically. Neither the whites nor the Negroes believed the totals. Pindling’s P.L.P., which had 10 seats
out of the 38 seats in the Assembly, hoped to add a few more. The United Bahamian Party needed only twenty seats to maintain the control. They weren’t
making it.
.
A silent horror fell over the mansions in the limestone hills. A revolution was in progress. No bullets bounced off the elegant façade of Governor Sir Ralph
Grey’s mansion. The work was being done with ballots. Ironically, this had been the weapon used by the Bay Street Boys to maintain power over the natives.
ONE BY ONE, the natives began to win the seats. Dr. McMillan in Fort Charlotte; Maurice Moore in Grand Bahama East; Thompson in Eleuthra; Levartiy in
Bimini and West End; Pindling himself in South Andros. When all the returns had been counted, it was obvious that the P.L.P. had eighteen seats; the U.B.P.
had eighteen; A.R. Braynen, an independent, had one; Randol Fawkes and his Labor party had one.
Nobody had a clear majority. The winning party always furnishes the Speaker of the House from the elected Assembly, and neither side could do it without
dropping to seventeen votes. At once a night battle began for Braynen’s vote, more important Fawkes’!
Lynden Pindling offered Braynen the Speakership, and it was accepted. The Speaker had no vote, except when the House is tied. So contending forces
remained 18-18. Fawkes was in his St. Barnabas district, listening to the plaudits of his adherents, when-so he says-the Premier himself paid a personal visit.
SIR ROLAND SYMONETTE is accustomed to having people come to him. He knew and so did Fawkes, that the revolution hinged on a solitary vote. If Bay
Street Boys could bring Randol Fawkes to their side at any price, then Pindling and his “colored” government was stillborn. “Name your terms,” the Premier
said. “Whatever it is, we will meet it.”
Fawkes has a boyish grin that hides embarrassment. He poured it on. A few years earlier he had been banished from the islands; had carried cakes of ice in
Harlem to keep alive. Now he could name his “terms” to the Premier of her Majesty’s Government. Would he ask a million? A half a million and a ministry?
The Negro said he was sorry. He had decided to go along with Pindling. He had no terms; no price. It is incredible that, in a lazy group of islands where votes
can be bought like seashells, a man chose not to be rich. The answer was, “No.”
This gave Lynden O. Pindling a Speaker and a 19-18 majority in the House. Sir Roland and his Government resigned. That night people danced in the streets.
Black-tie diners in the Bahamian Club and Buena Vista sipped expensive soups absent-mindedly. The world had come to an end.
The Bahamas Union of Teachers Salutes
the Trailblazers of our Nation who were
instrumental in ushering in Majority
Rule.
SOLIDARITY FOREVER!
Belinda Wilson
President,
The Bahamas Union of Teachers
Majority Rule Day
January 10th 1967
“Almighty and everlasting God, inspire me as I relate what uncommon courage was exhibited by common men and women
in the founding of our new Commonwealth of The Bahamas.” Sir Randol Fawkes – The Faith that Moved the Mountain
January 10th, 1967 - A PLP /Labor Coalition Government is Formed
On this the 45st anniversary of Majority Rule, the National Congress of Trade Unions pays tribute to the men and women who fought to bring about change
in the country and gives God thanks for the pivotal role that the Father of Labour and the lone labour candidate, Sir Randol Fawkes, played when his one
vote helped to usher in Majority Rule in the governance of the country.
Pictured in photos above are : Sir Randol Fawkes, Sir Lynden O. Pindling, Arthur Hanna, Sir Milo Butler. Second Row: Curtis McMillan, Clarence A, Bain, Sir
Clement Maynard, Sir Cecil Wallace Whitfield. Third Row: Carlton Francis, Sir Alvin Braynen, Warren Levarity, Geoffrey Thompson.