British Labour Movement Responses to Strikes and Riots in the English-speaking West Indies 1934-1939

Solidarity with strings

Abstract

This project traces the reaction of the British labour movement (pressure groups; political parties; and trade unions) to the strikes, riots, and 'disturbances' in St Lucia, St Vincent, British Honduras, Trinidad, Barbados, British Guiana, St Kitts, and Jamaica. There were deep-seated differences as between Leninists views on imperialism; and social democrats who viewed colonialism as acceptable if reformed with the right to set up trade unions, to bargain collectively, to strike, and to have state-backed labour standards. Plantation economics dominated these lands, and there are case studies of the strikes and riots on the sugar plantations of St Kitts, Trinidad, British Guiana, St Vincent, and Jamaica; the banana plantations in Jamaica, Trinidad, and Barbados; and in the oil fields of Trinidad, the docks in St Lucia, and the forests of British Honduras.

The earlier strikes in 1934/5 and those in smaller countries (St Kitts, St Vincent, St Lucia) were not widely reported in the UK. But those in 1937/38, especially in Barbados, Jamaica, and Trinidad, were openly discussed.  Some MPs raised issues in Parliament; there were motions of support (few and of limited scope) at TUC and Labour party meetings; some individuals visited the West Indies under their own steam; labour movement activists wrote plenty of articles and pamphlets; and invited representatives from the West Indies to attend meetings.