As the country gets set to celebrate 79 years of the labour movement in T&T tomorrow, university lecturer Dr Jerome Teelucksingh is warning labour leaders about the dangers of their involvement in politics.
Responding to questions from students about trade unionists morphing into politicians at a lecture hosted by Nalis at the Carnegie Library Reference Section, San Fernando, Teelucksingh said this was a Caribbean phenomenon.
He said not only in T&T have trade unionists, such as the father of the labour movement Tubal Uriah Buzz Butler, Basdeo Panday, George Weekes, Selwyn John, Errol Mc Leod, James Lambert, Rudy Indarsingh and Jennifer Baptiste-Primus transitioned into politics, but also in Guyana and Antigua, referring to Cheddi Jagan and Vere Bird, respectively.
Nevertheless, he said, the unions have to be very careful about their involvement in politics because that union, if it supports the Government, could be stigmatised and stereotyped and lose the image of being an independent voice.
“The unions have to cherish their independence. They have to be an independent voice, a voice for democracy and the unions must try to build patriotism in all citizens and must be seen as contributing to building an independent and strong T&T.”
He told the audience, which consisted of students from St Joseph’s Convent, St Benedict’s Secondary and Naparima Girls’ High School, as well as members of the public, that to achieve this there must be a united trade union movement.
Teelucksingh, who is attached to the Faculty of Humanities and Education at the St Augustine Campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI), said the fracturing of the unions is not a new phenomenon, reflecting on formative years when key players such as Butler and Adrian Cola Rienzi broke away from Arthur Andrew Cipriani’s Trinidad Working Men’s Association.
Rienzi went on to form the Trinidad Citizen’s League while Butler formed the British Empire Workers and Citizens Home Rule Party.
“In the same way labour leaders were divided at that time, it is what we have existing in 2016, when we have movements like the JTUM, FITUN and NATUC, all speaking for the working class, but on different platforms, appearing fragmented, divided.”
He said a united movement would serve T&T well but should not be limited to addressing the needs of their own members but be a voice for the voiceless, like abused children, and an advocate for the protection of the environment.
Teelucksingh also drew a parallel between the existing social and economic issues and what occurred in the 1930s era, prior to the labour riots.