JUNE 16 or tomorrow will mark 73 years since the shooting to death of five sugar workers, now immortalised as the ‘Enmore Martyrs.’ The workers– Rambarran, Pooran, Lallabagee, Surujballi and Harry — were shot and killed by colonial police during a protest action called by their union, the Guyana Industrial Worker’s Union (GIWU), now the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) against the ‘cut-and-load’ harvesting system which was introduced in 1945.

The new system forced cane cutters to both cut the canes and load the sugar punts; the workers felt it was an unfair system, as in the past they would only cut the canes and others would have the canes loaded into the punts. The workers were also calling for higher wages and improved living conditions.

Unable to find a resolution to the issue due to the refusal by the Sugar Producers Association (SPA) to negotiate with the union of their choice, the workers were left with no other choice but to take industrial action. The SPA wanted to negotiate with the Man Power Citizen’s Association (MPCA), but the workers had lost confidence in that union and preferred the GIWU to negotiate on their behalf.

The workers were further angered over the use of ‘scab’ labour by the estate management to undermine the effects of the strike action and take away work assigned to them. On the morning of June 16, 1948, the striking workers gathered outside the factory at the Enmore estate to register their protest. This resulted in a confrontation between protesters and the police, which led the shooting to death of the five sugar workers and serious injury to several others.

The workers were supported politically by the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) which was formed in 1946 with Dr. Cheddi Jagan, his wife Janet, Ashton Chase and HJM Hubbard as founding members.  A funeral procession took place the following day from Enmore to Le Repentir Cemetery, where the large gathering was addressed by Dr. Jagan and other union leaders. It was at the graveside of the fallen sugar workers that Dr. Jagan made a silent pledge to dedicate his entire life to the cause of the working people of Guyana.

One consequence of the slaying of the five sugar workers was that it served as a catalyst to the formation of the first mass-based political party in the country, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) which was formed on January 1, 1950, a mere two years later.  Dr. Jagan had already secured a seat in the Legislative Council as an independent member in 1947, but following the brutal killings of the sugar workers, the need was felt to advance the struggle to a higher political level.

The conditions of life in the then colony were dire, not only for sugar workers, but for working people as a whole. The depression of the 1930s had resulted in a fall in demand for exports from the colony, which resulted in several protest actions by workers, especially sugar, bauxite, water- front workers and those in the public transportation sector.

So bad were the conditions facing the working people in the country that the British Government appointed the West Indian Royal Commission led by Lord Moyne in 1938 to investigate and make recommendations on the social and economic conditions in the various territories. The commission exposed the harsh conditions under which people lived, especially sugar workers. Among the several recommendations were the need for better living and working conditions and constitutional reforms, including universal adult suffrage which eventually took place in the 1953 election, that was won overwhelmingly by the newly formed PPP.

It was against that background that the protest action taken by the workers had to be situated.

After the incident the Governor Sir Charles Woodley appointed a Commission of Inquiry which justified the shooting, but it was also critical of the police for the use of unnecessary and excessive force.

It is indeed unfortunate that several sugar workers are today out of employment as a result of the reckless action taken by the former APNU+AFC administration to close down four of seven grinding sugar estates, even against the advice of a commission that it had established to examine financial and other options. However, there is renewed hope that the current interventions in the sugar industry will result in a better day for sugar workers and that the pain and sacrifices of the fallen sugar workers will not be forgotten, but will serve as a living monument to the virtues of struggles and sacrifice as exemplified by the Enmore Martyrs.