US tries to continue the of the Trade Union Council (the union umbrella group); and its journal, Workers Voice, which had been set up under the Gairy regime by Vincent Noel, ceased publication.
The offices of several unions were ransacked. The bosses gave the impression that the unions no longer existed. And the union leaders no trade-union movement longer had any way to move around and visit the workplaces.
Three weeks after the invasion, a
US team visited the country and declared that the leadership of most of
THE FOLLOWING article describes the campaign by the US and its local agents to complete the workk of the invasion by housebreaking the Grenadan unions. It points out that the imprisonment and attempt to extradite Chester Humphrey is a key part of this campaign. Humphrey has been on a limited hunger strike since September, taking only liquids, and because of his serious condition, his final appeal hearing has been postponed until this month. There may still be time to stop this crime. Protests should be sent to Prime Minister Herbert
Blaize, Prime Minister's Office, St George's, Grenada.
ARTHUR MAHON
On October 19, 1983, Vincent
Noel, president of the Bank and
General
Workers
Union [BGWU];
and Fitzroy Bain, president of the
General
Workers
Agricultural and
Union [AGWU] were executed, along
The Grenadan with Maurice Bishop.
trade-union movement thereby lost two of its outstanding leaders.
Up until 1979, the Grenadan trade- union movement had been dominated by bureaucrats who were often linked to the
American Institute for Free
Labor Development [AIFLD].
During the revolutionary period, the trade-union movement experienced major growth. Some 80% of the workers were unionised. At the same time, it underwent a deepgoing renewal.
Maurice Bishop (DR)
The BGWU was founded by Vincent Noel a few weeks before the revolution, and became the most powerful union. The AGWU took the place of the union dominated by the former dietator, Gairy, among the agriculture workers. In the May 1, 1983 May Day demonstration, it had the largest contingent.
Moreover, in most of the unions the revolutionists waged a successful struggle to achieve democratization.
After the invasion, the trade-union movement became one of the main targets of the US offensive. The first intendand bro be weeks were grim. Many trade-unionists and questioned and intimidated before being released. The occupation troops seized the vehicles the unions was "composed of thugs and highly polished Soviet bloc-trained polemicists." It recommended that the AIFLD "should take the lead in restructuring and training the unions as soon as possible."
An office of the AIFLD was set up in Grenada and alloted a large budget. At the same time, a slander campaign against the leaders of several unions was orchestrated in the workplaces.
The teachers union wanted to consult its locals in order to be able to take a position on the invasion. It was forced to give up the idea. A rumor was set in motion that the union was building an anti-American demonstration. As a result of all these pressures, some union leaders were led to resign. Union-busting drive runs into resistance
The events that preceded the invasion had demoralised and disorientated the workers, who in their great majority, had supported the revolution. This was made worse by the fact that some unionists, following the orders of the New Jewel Movement, had tried to discredit Maurice Bishop in the week before he was executed. They opposed the strikes and demonstrations that demanded his release.
The president of the Trade Union Council, Chalkey Ventour, a member of the Political Bureau of the NJM (today imprisoned with Coard) played a particularly pernicious role. This situation obviously facilitated the offensive launched by the Americans against the trade-union movement.
However, this offensive rapidly reached its limits. Thus, at the start of 1984, the AIFLD's key agent, Osborne Baptiste, who was leading the slander campaign, was expelled from the Commercial and Industrial Workers Union (CIWU). Moreover, the AIFLD was forced to disavow him at a meeting of the TUC, which issued a communique condemning his machinations.
The US wants to attract investors to Grenada. For that purpose, they need docile unions. The first objective of the CIA and the AIFLD is to break
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GRENADA invasion in the