In my quest to find a Guyanese who has contributed to the great land of Guyana, I chose Hubert Nathaniel Critchlow. Critchlow founded the first labor union of the Caribbean called British Guiana Labour Union (BGLU) at the early age of 20. May 1st, Labour Day or May Day is a holiday that celebrates Critchlows contribution and accomplishments in improving the working conditions of so many laborers. Critchlow stands tall as an important figure in the origin and development of the labor movement in British Guiana. I do not recall learning about Critchlow growing up in Guyana however I cannot wait to conduct a more in-depth research on his life.
He was born in Georgetown on December 1884. He attended Bedford Wesleyan primary school. At the age of thirteen, he left school after his father died and had to find a job for his upkeep at home. Critchlow was good at sports, continued to do it and soon became a sports figure in 1905-1914. He was the countrys middle-distance champion, a good footballer and cricketer. After Critchlow left school, he worked as an apprentice at the Demerara Foundry. At the turn of the century, he obtained employment as a dock labourer on the waterfront. His active representation of fellow workers during the strike in 1905 made him popular. He then continued to support workers rights and was always called upon to represent workers cases to their employers in the following years (Chase, 1966).
Infill (2001) goes further to explain that in the early 1900, the working and living conditions for almost all workers were dreadful. The workers were considered lucky to be able to secure employment due to the high unemployment, making the employed have long working days for a low and fixed pay in the face of the rising cost of living. With no organization to represent the plight of the workers to their employers, the workers had to struggle to secure a humane wage and improve working condition. The government supported the employers to the disadvantage of the workers by failing to establish laws to regulate income and hours of labor as well as grant legal status to trade unions. The state also defended the business community in their exploitation of workers and even deployed military power to suppress workers demonstrations.
It was during the strikes in 1917 that Critchlow became popular as he represented the interests of waterfront workers in collective bargaining and was then regarded as the leader of all waterfront workers, helping those secure increased wages. During the period, he led a petition for an eight hours working day. The chamber of commerce was pressuring him to withdraw his name from the petition, as they had done to other petitioners, but Critchlow adamantly refused, leading him to being fired from his job and blacklisted form obtaining a job. He had to depend on close friends for assistance (Harry, 2007)
Being jobless, Critchlow continued to petition for the eight hour working day and in December 1918, he led a small delegation of workers to meet with the governor, Sir Wilfred Colet. In her book, Woolford (1992) says that Critchlow developed an idea of forming a trade union after that meeting. He started to make arrangement for its formation straight away. The British Labour Union (BGLU) was ultimately established on January 11th 1919. There were several problems that were experienced in the establishment of this union.
Employers saw it as a force aimed at causing industrial unrest, therefore issuing threats to workers who were union members. The membership grew despite these threats and at the end of the first year, more than seven thousand financial members had joined the union. Critchlow was then employed on a full time basis by the union. He never stopped being a spokesperson for the workers, publicized their grievances and demanded better working conditions and better wages for the workers. He was however challenged by the more educated members of the union who felt that because of his limited education, he should not be allowed to have such high responsibilities. These members, who were the minority in the union, wanted a doctor or a lawyer to lead the union. At a meeting of the union in 1920, a motion was introduced requesting Critchlow to hand over all the unions fund to Dr. T. T. Nichols and two other lawyers, but it was shot down by a huge majority. A vote of confidence in Critchlow was passed (Chase, 1966).
In the early 1920s, after the end of the World War, there was a serious unemployment crisis that developed. There were strikes and riots in Georgetown in 1924. Workers were demanding a shorter working day and higher wage to combat the rising cost of living. When the employers refused to meet these demands, riots broke out in various parts of Georgetown, despite t appeals from Critchlow for the workers to avoid violence. Critchlow advised the workers to end the strikes after numerous arrests were made and both men and women were charged with inciting and causing violence. This was met with opposition, but Critchlows decision was needed after he acknowledged that the Governor would have to intercede in the matter of wages. Critchlow asked the Governor to set up an Arbitration board to exam the wage issue and to force both the employers and workers to accept it. The Governor included Critchlow as one of the two workers representatives since there was no legislation allowing the establishment of such a board. The board though, did little to improve the situation. BGLU expanded its international links during this period and Critchlow represent the union at the British Commonwealth labor conference. In 1941, in order to represent workers in various areas, the British Guiana trades council (TUC) was established and Critchlow was appointed at its first Secretary General (Daly, 1974).
Due to his experience in workers struggles, Critchlow recognized that the capitalist system was not bringing benefits to the working class. In December 1930, he addressed union members and asked workers to fight against capitalism and struggle for establishment of socialism. Critchlow also fought for voting rights for all the workers to enable them to participate in the national elections. Leaders of other unions that had been formed at this time also agitated this cause. The Governor nominated him and Ayube Edun, of the Man Power citizens Association to represent workers in the legislative council. Critchlow was later appointed to the executive council where he served until 1947. Critchlow also served as the Governments nominee on the Georgetown city council from 1945 to December 1950 (Harry, 2007).
In 1947 elections, Critchlow contested and won the south Georgetown constituency only for his election to be declared null and void as a result of an election petition. He was then barred from contesting for a legislative council seat for five years. Critchlow however never stopped representing workers in the various parts of the country (Infill, 2002).
Critchlow was awarded the medal of officer of the British Empire (OBE) by King George VI in 1951 for his outstanding public service. He resigned as a General Secretary of both BGLU and TUC, but continued to serve on the Arbitration panel examining wage dispute for waterfront workers in Grenada. This outstanding working class leader died on 10th May 1958 at the age of seventy four years. A famous Guyanese artist E.R. Burrows sculpted a statue of Critchlow at the request of Dr. Jagan. The statue was later placed on the grounds of the Parliament building (Daly, 1974).
In conclusion, I would say that it is a testimony that Critchlow is considered as the father of the trade union movement in Guyana. This is bearing in mind that at the age of twenty one years old, as a dock worker, he founded the British Guiana Labour union, which fought with success for the rights of the dock workers in Georgetown.
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