Conclusion

Abstract

In the British Caribbean, Labour constituted the most effective single force in the process of decolonization, and in Trinidad it was the TWA/TLP and successive labour organizations which piloted the movement for self-government. Labour challenged the autocracy of colonial rule and was unyielding in the campaign for adult franchise and representative government, which were the two fundamental ingredients for the dissolution of colonialism. Although labour organizations were for decades denied official recognition, leaders were relentless in dialogue with the Colonial Office in the campaign for Home Rule. Their delegations and memorials to colonial administrators, leadership of the masses and struggle in a legislature which denied them political authority, bear testimony to their fearless initiatives against imperial governance and capitalist exploitation.