MAY 2011 should be Workers’ Month because it is now 50 years since former premier Norman Manley enacted National Labour Day in 1961 to promote the dignity of those who do manual work for a living. One of the feast days in the Roman Catholic Church is that of St Joseph the worker which in Jamaica Roman Catholics observe on Labour Day, May 23.

Many intellectuals and others were instrumental in seeing to it that Jamaica achieved self-government and later political independence. However, were it not for the workers, Jamaica would not have achieved these gains. The riots and strikes of the sugar and banana workers fuelled the energy of the social revolution that peaked in 1938.

Marcus Garvey founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association in August, 1914. More than 20 years later, there were branches of the UNIA in Jamaica and St William Grant was the local leader. It was on the UNIA platform that Alexander Bustamante came to be known and founded the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union on May 23, 1938.

St William Grant was an integral part of the BITU and the People’s National Party (both were affiliated to each other in 1938). In 1943, Bustamante formed the Jamaica Labour Party. Unions were very important to the political process in Jamaica in the early years of self-government. Indeed, it was the BITU that caused the landslide victory for the JLP in 1944.

By 1945 the Trades Union Advisory Council combined and evolved into the Trades Union Congress to match the BITU. But more important, the TUC became for the PNP what the BITU was for the JLP. When the Four Hs (Richard Hart, Ken Hill, Frank Hill and Arthur Henry) were expelled from the PNP in 1952, the TUC, which was led by Ken Hill, was disaffiliated from the PNP.

By 1953 the National Workers Union was founded to replace the TUC as the PNP’s trade union arm. This should amply demonstrate the importance of workers to the political process at that time. Still, there was much more to be done in terms of giving workers the level of dignity they deserve.

Jamaica’s Norman Manley knew that some nations of the world had a Labour Day holiday and he thought that Jamaica should also have one. At the same time, with the coming of political independence by 1962, there was a need to abolish (British) Empire Day which was May 24. In celebration, school children sang songs patriotic to England and the Queen, but it was felt that this was not in keeping with nationalistic aspirations.

So Norman Manley initially planned to replace Empire Day on May 24 with Labour Day. But David Clement Tavares, a JLP Member of the House of Representatives, suggested May 23 instead of May 24. He argued that the BITU, which was Jamaica’s first trade union for all categories of workers was inaugurated on May 23. To this the elder Manley agreed.

The last time Jamaica celebrated Empire Day was in 1960 and we began observing Labour Day in 1961. For the first 10 years of Labour Day, 1961-71, the trade unions had marches which ended with speeches given by the political leaders of the parties to which the trade unions were affiliated.

In 1972, Michael Manley as prime minister introduced a new concept of Labour Day where everyone was invited to give some voluntary labour on that day. There have been several gains for workers over the years such as the minimum wage and the replacement of the old Master-Servant law with the Employer-Employee Act.

Are trade unions in Jamaica today interested only in union dues? What else can explain the failure of local trade unions to carry the empowerment of workers to its highest level? In many other countries trade unions organise the workers into co-operative businesses and teach workers co-operative principles in line with the social teachings of the Roman Catholic Church and the feast of St Joseph the Worker.

I have often argued that while December 26 should always be a holiday, the name of the holiday should be changed from Boxing Day to Family Day, as many Jamaican families, including workers, have fellowship on that day.

And the trade unions should be the ones supporting this, especially as Boxing Day is a disrespectful term to workers. Boxing Day came about in England because the servants had to work on Christmas Day.

Naturally, their employers received new things as presents for Christmas. On the following day, December 26, the second-hand things would be put in boxes and thrown out for the servants to fight over. Where are the trade unionists in this matter? Indeed, the aim of the December 26 holiday should not be in contradiction to our Labour Day.

ekrubm765@yahoo.com