Tubal Uriah "Buzz" Butler (21 January 1897 – 20 February 1977), was a Grenadian-born

Spiritual Baptist The Spiritual Baptist faith is a Christian religion created by enslaved Africans in the plantations they came to in the former British West Indies countries predominantly in the islands of a Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tobago and the ...

preacher and labour leader in

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

. He is best known for leading a series of labour riots between 19 June and 6 July 1937 and for forming a series of personalist political parties (the British Empire Citizens' and Workers' Home Rule Party, the Butler Home Rule Party, and finally the

Butler Party The British Empire Citizens' and Workers' Home Rule Party, also known as the Butler Home Rule Party and more commonly as the Butler Party, Nohlen, D (2005) ''Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I'', p628 were a series of political pa ...

) that focused its platform on the improvement of the working class.

Biography

Butler was born in St. George's, Grenada, where he attended the Anglican School."Tubal Uriah 'Buzz' Butler (1897-1977)"
''The Grenada Revolution Online''. Unable to find work after completing his primary school education, at 17 he became a volunteer in the

British West Indies Regiment The British West Indies Regiment was a unit of the British Army during the First World War, formed from volunteers from British colonies in the West Indies. Formation In 1915 the British Army formed a second West Indies regiment from Caribbean ...

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, serving in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

from 1914 to 1918, stationed in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

. Returning from military service at the end of the war in 1918, he became active in political pressure groups and workers unions, establishing the Grenada Representative Government Movement, and the Grenada Union of Returned Soldiers."Uriah 'Buzz' Butler"
''Trinidad and Tobago: Struggle for Independence''. In 1921, aged 24, he went to south Trinidad and was employed at the Roodal Oilfields as a pipe-fitter. He became influenced by the philosophy of

Marcus Garvey Marcus Mosiah Garvey Sr. (17 August 188710 June 1940) was a Jamaican political activist, publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator. He was the founder and first President-General of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African ...

, according to Garvey's son Dr Julius Garvey.Andre Bagoo,
"Marcus Garvey’s TT legacy"
''

Trinidad and Tobago Newsday ''Trinidad and Tobago Newsday'' is a daily newspaper in Trinidad and Tobago. ''Newsday'' is the newest of the three daily papers after the ''Trinidad and Tobago Guardian'' and the ''Trinidad and Tobago Express'' respectively. The newspaper was fo ...

'', 30 July 2015. Butler first came to prominence in 1935 when he led a "hunger march" from the oilfields to

Port of Spain Port of Spain (Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a municip ...

. In 1936 he was expelled from the

Trinidad Labour Party The Trinidad Labour Party was a political party in Trinidad and Tobago. Formed in 1934 when the Trinidad Workingmen's Association changed its name, it was the country's first party. History The party was originally a trade union named the Trinid ...

for his "extremist tendencies". He then formed the British Empire Citizens' and Workers' Home Rule Party. On 19 June 1937 a strike in protest of working conditions, wages, racism and exploitation began in the oilfields in the southern Trinidad. Police attempted to arrest Butler as he addressed a meeting in

Fyzabad Fyzabad is a town in southwestern Trinidad, south of San Fernando, west of Siparia and northeast of Point Fortin. It is named after the town of Faizabad in India. Colloquially it is known as "Fyzo" by many people. History Fyzabad was founded ...

. His supporters prevented the police from doing so and Charlie King, a police officer was killed. The

Labour riots of 1937 Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

resulted in turmoil throughout the oilfields. When strikes spread to the

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

factories, the Colonial government responded by issuing an arrest warrant for Butler. Butler went into hiding and the colonial authorities were unable to locate him. He stayed in contact with the authorities through

Adrian Cola Rienzi Adrian Cola Rienzi (born Krishna Deonarine on 19 January 1905, died Desh Bandu (''Friend of the Nation'') on July 21, 1972) was a Trinidadian and Tobagonian trade unionist, civil rights activist, politician and lawyer. Early life and education ...

and although he was promised safe passage by the colonial authorities to testify at a commission of enquiry into the events of June 1937, he was arrested by the colonial government when he emerged to do so. Butler was imprisoned from 9 September 1937 to May 1939. With the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in September 1939, he was re-arrested and detained for the duration of the war. After release from prison he formed the Butler Home Rule Party, which later became the Butler Party. The Butler Party captured the largest block of seats in the Legislative Council, but the Governor chose to exclude Butler and instead

Albert Gomes Albert Maria Gomes (25 March 1911 – 13 January 1978) was a Trinidadian unionist, politician, and writer of Portuguese descent, was the first Chief Minister of Trinidad and Tobago. He was the founder of the Political Progress Groups and later led ...

became the first

chief minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

. In the 1956 General Elections the Butler Party only won two seats. Butler, the fiery radical, was deemed too unstable and threatening to the nation's economic well-being by

Eric Williams Eric Eustace Williams (25 September 1911 – 29 March 1981) was a Trinidad and Tobago politician who is regarded by some as the "Father of the Nation", having led the then British Trinidad and Tobago, British Colony of Trinidad and Tobago to m ...

and the

People's National Movement The People's National Movement (PNM) is the longest-serving and oldest active political party in Trinidad and Tobago. The party has dominated national and local politics for much of Trinidad and Tobago's history, contesting all elections sinc ...

. Butler is looked upon as the founding father of the

Oilfields Workers' Trade Union The Oilfields Workers' Trade Union or OWTU is one of the most powerful trade unions in Trinidad and Tobago. Currently led by Ancel Roget, the union was born out of the 1937 labour riots, the union was nominally led by the imprisoned TUB Butl ...

(OWTU) and the labour movement and is honoured with a statue in Fyzabad. He was awarded the

Trinity Cross The Trinity Cross (abbreviated T.C.) was the highest of the National Awards of Trinidad and Tobago, between the years 1969 and 2008. It was awarded for: "distinguished and outstanding service to Trinidad and Tobago. It was awarded for gallantry ...

, the nation's highest honour, in 1970.

Legacy

The

Uriah Butler Highway The Uriah Butler Highway, sometimes referred to as UBH, is one of the major north–south highways on Trinidad in Trinidad and Tobago. It is named after Tubal Uriah Butler. It runs from Champs Fleurs to Chaguanas where it meets the Sir Solomon ...

is named in his honour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Tubal Uriah 1897 births 1977 deaths British West Indies Regiment soldiers Butler Party politicians Members of the Legislative Council of Trinidad and Tobago People from St. George's, Grenada Recipients of the Trinity Cross Trinidad and Tobago activists Trinidad and Tobago prisoners and detainees Trinidad and Tobago religious leaders Trinidad and Tobago trade unionists

Biography

Further reading

Legacy

References