There was a lull in labour movement after 1905

May 25, 2026 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

(Kaieteur News) – There is substantial historical evidence that the labour movement in British Guiana experienced a lull or period of weakened organisation after the upheavals of 1905, before re-emerging forcefully in the near mid-1920s and especially the 1930s.

The evidence comes from several interconnected developments. First, historians note that the waterfront protests of 1905 disturbances were not followed immediately by stable labour institutions. The protests were violently suppressed by the colonial state. In fact, it is now the verdict that in terms of achieving its objective, the strike and protests were a failure.

Hubert Nathaniel Critchlow himself admitted that he had learnt his lesson from the suppression of the strike and opted in 1916 for negotiations. Given the suppression by the colonial state – eight persons died and more than thirty injured – even the workers were not at all confident in that petitioning the authorities would yield gain. In fact, Critchlow said that one year after the 1905 strike, the workers were saying that they would never strike again.

The workers movement lacked union organisation and the structures necessary to withstand retaliation by the colonial state. As Dr. Melissa Ifill noted the outcome of the strike “clearly signalled that it was essential that workers organise themselves to advance their interests, preferably within a trade union.”

But even though an exploratory meeting was held in 1906, it was not until 13 years later that the first trade union was established. That thirteen-year gap is itself important evidence of decline or stagnation.

Second, Hubert Nathaniel Critchlow’s recollection emphasised that following 1905 strike, there remained harsh working conditions. But he did not describe sustained labour agitation surviving afterward. The historical record shows relatively scattered and episodic labour protests during the intervening years rather than continuous mass mobilisation.

On the sugar estates, the conditions were also harsh. A commission appointed by the colonial government found that workers laboured under conditions that were often harsh, degrading and deeply exploitative. Many complained that estate managements deliberately failed to inform them of the rates paid for task work, leaving labourers uncertain about how much they would earn for exhausting days in the cane fields. Overseers were frequently accused of treating workers with cruelty and little sympathy, enforcing discipline through intimidation and humiliation rather than fairness.

Labourers also suffered financial penalties for irregular attendance, even when absence resulted from illness, fatigue or family hardship. Discontent grew over changes in the methods used to measure cane loads, since workers believed these alterations unfairly reduced their earnings. Beyond the estates themselves, labourers faced difficulty sustaining their families because the small plots of land provided for cultivation were inadequate for proper subsistence. Wages remained painfully low and were often insufficient to meet basic needs, while the working day stretched for long hours under punishing tropical conditions.

While labour protests did not disappear altogether after 1905, they were too sporadic and intermittent to give the first two decades of the 20th century the tag of being major milestones in workers’ organisation. It was in 1920’s and 1930’s that are considered the most defining decades for trade unionism in Guyana and the Caribbean.

Third, the labour movement’s revival is usually specifically associated with the economic crises of the 1920’s and especially the Great Depression of the 1930’s. As global demand and prices for sugar, cocoa, and other exports collapsed, wages were cut, unemployment soared, and working and living conditions deteriorated rapidly. At the same time, colonial governments and plantation owners refused to provide adequate relief. This combination of economic hardship and political neglect pushed workers beyond endurance, leading to strikes, riots, and the rapid growth of organised labour movements across the region during the 1930’s.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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British Guiana, Hubert Nathaniel Critchlow, labour movement, Peeping Tom

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