Fellow Citizens,
Labour Day should not only be a celebratory occasion for workers in Trinidad and Tobago, but a time when every citizen should pause and reflect on the past struggles of the Labour Movement. We need to understand the present nature of work in Trinidad and Tobago, then, in a broader context, attempt to envision and respond to the country’s challenges in the 21st century.
The events that occurred in June 1937 were not isolated to the worker, but were a confluence of social, political and economic factors, which made the resultant worker protest inevitable.
Those factors were evident over 100 years earlier, beginning with the proclamation of Emancipation in 1834 – a time when the workers’ daily reality was one of racism and that of being half-freed, half-coerced and even treated as half-human.
In reflecting today, I believe we should all recall the general working conditions and consequent legal struggles of the defiant labour leader Tubal Uriah “Buzz” Butler. In 1936, he was blocked from registering his union; that absence of recognised machinery for collective bargaining contributed significantly to worker resentment and the subsequent explosion.
We have to recognise also the contribution of Adrian Cola Rienzi, a key figure in the formation of the struggle of the 1930s. Rienzi, an articulate attorney, displayed the talent and capability needed, at that time, to lead the nascent Labour Movement along organisational and managerial lines. In the march of history, we acknowledge other stalwarts of the liberation; in the earlier period, James Biggart, Arthur Cipriani; in later years Albert Gomes, John Rojas, APT James, George Weekes, Bhadase Sagan Maharaj and James Manswell, to name a few.
Since taking office my Government can point to a series of Tripartite consultations in its attempt to modernise the legislative framework. Cabinet also has before it a number of items, which will further improve the conditions of workers, and the enhancement of their conditions of employment, and retirement benefits.
Today, technological developments are presenting complex challenges, not only to traditional working conditions, but to the nature of societies worldwide. For instance, biotechnology is beginning to enter our inner lives – our emotions, thoughts, and choices. It is anticipated that together, infotech and biotech will create unprecedented upheavals in society.
For the worker in the 21st century, new jobs will uncompromisingly demand a higher level of expertise and ingenuity, thereby, posing problems for those existing, among us who are unemployed and unskilled. The century is demanding that workers constantly re-train, and frequently re-invent themselves, not once but several times during their progressive work lives.
These new challenges are now demanding that the leaders in the Labour Movement re-think their traditional positions and perspectives. The 21st century, in short, is demanding not only a new quality worker, but also a new kind of Labour Leadership.
I am confident that as a people we have the mettle to rise to the occasion to make our opportunities and outcomes better but we have to work together towards the common goal of national development based on shared sacrifices for shared benefits.
This country salutes all its workers, at all stations, for their contributions in building our future. With grace and thanks we say happy Labour Day. Be conscious and full of pride as we say “together we aspire together we achieve.”