Tubal Uriah "Buzz" Butler (21 January 1897 – 20 February 1977), was a Grenadian-born Spiritual Baptist 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 List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, 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 Gurkha ...

from 1914 to 1918, stationed in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

. 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'', 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 muni ...

. In 1936 he was expelled from the Trinidad Labour Party 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. 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 do ...

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

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 l ...

became the first chief minister. 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 Colony of Trinidad and Tobago to majority rule on 28 October ...

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 (OWTU) and the labour movement and is honoured with a statue in Fyzabad. He was awarded the Trinity Cross, the nation's highest honour, in 1970.

Legacy

The Uriah Butler Highway 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