TRADE UNIONISM in Barbados owes its strength to the foundation built by pioneers such as Sir Grantley Adams, Sir Hugh Springer and Sir Frank Walcott.
Orlando Scott, however, regrets that Barbadians do not understand the debt they owe to these stalwarts.
There is no doubt Scott has paid his dues and continues to work to foster the ideals of the founders of trade unionism, because he says he has seen evidence of the spoils masses of Barbadian workers are enjoying today.
A people’s person, the trade unionist known as “Gabby” by many, has worked tirelessly as a labour educator spreading the word among workers about their rights and responsibilities as well as assuming the public relations role for the organisation. He has also been the union’s point man in the area of safety
in the workplace.
Scott never loses an opportunity to spread the gospel of trade unionism. To anyone who questions his fervour, Scott’s response is simple: “The Barbados Workers’ Union has given me a chance to work in and on the behalf of the working class in this country; the people who really need leadership and who
need comfort.”
He is inspired by his idol, the late Sir Frank Walcott. As a boy hanging around Seawell Airport, while his father worked supervising men in the yard of the airport, Scott occupied himself taking in the comings and goings of people passing through. Sir Frank, general secretary of the Barbados Workers’
Union (BWU), was one whom Scott would observe going abroad on trade union business.
“You would hear about the ‘heavy roller’ and he would always respond very politely to me,” Scott said. “I liked what he was doing for working class people because my mother was a labourer and I liked what the Barbados Workers’ Union was doing for transforming the social and economic situation for
working-class people.”
Scott is quick to say he is “a country boy” who grew up in an age when sugar was king and black Barbadians toiled long and hard in the cane fields. His memories of that stage of Barbados’ development are filled with indelible images of working class people striving hard as agricultural labourers to eke out a living for their families.
“I grew up seeing women every morning with hoes on their shoulders
and I just thought that things could be better for the working class,” he said.
His experiences as a young student at Christ Church Boys’ Foundation School also helped to fuel the determination and passion he would later develop for taking an active role in the trade union movement.
“Going to Foundation, you were sitting next to people in the middle class and the upper middle class and your realised they always seemed to be in a comfort zone whereas you as a working class boy had to be settling early for less.”
In the eyes of the teenager, that was definitely not a comfortable position.
That was when he began to notice the BWU doing “a tremendous job” to make life “far easier” for the working class.
By the time he decided this would be his life’s mission, he had already gleaned sufficient information about the trade union movement’s history to be persuaded this was definitely the direction in which his life should go.
Today when he stands in front of a group of young workers at the Frank Walcott Labour College, his clarion call is for them to develop an understanding of the origins of the labour movement and how far it has come, as well as where they are as workers because of the vision of those early trade union leaders.
With his voice hitting a crescendo of frustration, he said: “There are people who seem not to understand the transformation that has taken place
in Barbados during the past 70 years. They do not seem to understand there were days when the average black Barbadian could not sit at the table
with the oligarchs.
“That transformation has been brought about and you have to give the early Barbados Labour Party, the Progressive League and the union a lot of commendation for the work that was done.”
It did not take much persuasion on the part of Sir Frank to lure Scott into a job with the BWU. It did not mean that the relatively young journalist was no longer enjoying the job he had chosen after leaving Christ Church Boys’ Foundation. “I chose journalism because I love writing and I did not want to have a job to do with figures because I was not good at maths at school,” Scott pointed out.
Writing was indeed his first love and he read voraciously. He read stories about international figures such as leader of the Soviet Union Joseph Stalin and American President Theodore Roosevelt, as well as Barbados’ Grantley Adams.
However , it did not take much persuasion for Scott to accept the position of public relations officer for the union. Sir Frank was impressed with the young reporter who always covered the union’s press conferences. He admired Scott’s demonstrated grasp of industrial relations matters.
As much as he loved journalism, Scott readily made the switch from the Barbados Advocate to the BWU. His feet were already wet, having served as a member of the management committee of the Daily News’ Division of the union soon after being recruited by that newspaper. When he moved to the Barbados Advocate, he continued his trade union activities, becoming president of the Advocate division of the union, a post he held for a few years.
The married father of one son and three daughters is now writing a book on his life. In the same way that he has always worked to educate young people joining the trade union movement about its history of struggle, he has instilled in his children, the core values that helped to shape the man he is.
“My children know all about my early life; they know all their grandparents because I don’t want them to believe because they live in a house with bathrooms, bedrooms, refrigerator and ovens that it has always been so.
“I want them to respect people they see on the streets, say ‘good morning’, ‘thank you’,” he said.
Though official retirement has come for the 71-year-old Scott, the indefatigable trade unionist finds it difficult to say no to the many requests for his assistance with trade union activities.
“It is not easy being a trade unionist, meetings day and night disrupting your family life,” Scott said. Still, he confessed the only other profession for which he would have traded his job, would have been a priest.
His contribution to trade unionism in Barbados has not gone unnoticed.
Scott was among 50 Barbadians presented with the Barbados Jubilee Honour for his “outstanding contribution to the labour movement” as Barbados marked its 50th year of independence. (GC)