On 9 September 1937, Tubal Uriah Butler surrendered after remaining in hiding following the June uprising. The National Trust records that he faced sedition charges and was jailed for two years for inciting a riot, although he was cleared of sedition. The sequence shows how the colonial state criminalized a labour leader while the new union movement was taking shape. Butler’s prosecution did not erase the collective struggle that had spread across oil, sugar, and urban workplaces.
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On 21 June 1937, strikes and unrest spread from the southern oilfields to Point Fortin, San Fernando, Penal, Ste Madeleine, Waterloo, Woodford Lodge, Port of Spain, Rio Claro and other districts....
The British Secretary of State for the Colonies told Parliament on 28 June that strikes spread northward to the sugar areas and Port of Spain on 22 June 1937, after unrest began in the oilfields....
A 28 June 1937 statement in the British House of Commons reported that on 23 June the Governor had informed officials of unrest in Rio Claro: police fired back at a crowd and four people were...
On 21 July 1937, the British House of Commons discussed a commission to investigate the Trinidad and Tobago disturbances. The stated terms included examining their causes and the government’s...
The Oilfield Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU) was formed on 25 July 1937 in the aftermath of the labour uprising. With Butler in hiding, he designated Adrian “Cola” Rienzi to lead in his stead. The union...
👉 Butler surrenders and is arrested after months in hiding
Huidig
9 September 1937
On 9 September 1937, Tubal Uriah Butler surrendered after remaining in hiding following the June uprising. The National Trust records that he faced sedition charges and was jailed for two years for...
On 11 May 1938, the British House of Commons heard that employers and workers in Trinidad’s oil industry had agreed in principle to refer a wage dispute to arbitration. The Colonial Office said...
On 1 July 1946, Trinidad and Tobago held its first Legislative Council election under universal adult suffrage. Voting rights were extended to women and men aged 21 and over, removing earlier income...
On 28 October 1946, County Council elections were held under universal adult suffrage. The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago records that Tobago was treated as one county in the July Legislative...
In the 18 September 1950 election, the Butler Party won six of the 18 elected seats, the largest bloc for any single party. The National Archives describes the party’s victory as anti-colonial, but...
Trinidad and Tobago became independent from British rule. Political sovereignty did not automatically end economic inequality, racialized hierarchies, or colonial-era institutions shaped by slavery...
