| THE
BETHESDA TAMARIND TREE In
1951, when the Antigua Trades & Labour Union
was in its infancy, Union field officers went
into the estates and said no crop would start
until the workers were told their rates of
pay.
Sugar cane cutters had already been
on strike for three months and both the workers
and the Antigua Sugar Estates were losing
money. Subsequently the employer, Mr.
Alexander Moody-Stuart, had stated he would
starve the workers into submission. Meetings were
arranged between the workers and Moody-Stuart,
and one of these was under the old Tamarind Tree
and the other was at Betty's Hope estate.
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THE BETHESDA
TAMARIND TREE |
| The employer,
sitting on his white horse, insisted on speaking
first, "I know you are losing a lot of
money, you are losing wages and may I admit that
I am losing much myself. I think you should
stop this thing and you should go back to
work". The answer from the workers was
unanimous. "You said you were going to
starve us into submission. Nobody shall
ever use that remark again. We are not
going to work for the balance of the
year". For the rest of that year no
crop was reaped. The
people went into the fields, picked natural
resources such as Widdy-Widdy bush (Corchorus
siliquosus) and went down to the sea to collect
cockles and wilks (Livona pica). Without
pay they managed to survive, though it was hard.
On Jan 2 1952, after a long strike, the workers
got the 25% increase they had asked for. The
strength, determination, solidarity and sacrifice
of the workers fighting against tyranny and
injustice had brought the sugar barons to their
knees...and much of it had happened in the
meeting place of this old tree. The workers had
won their rights by their own enormous
efforts. It was one of the greatest
accomplishments of Antigua people.
This historical landmark may
be found about one and a half miles from Bethesda
on the road towards the northeast. It grows
on the north side of the road on a slight curve.
Underneath the tree a large boulder has been
placed to mark the spot for future generations.
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This article
courtesy
The Museum of Antigua & Barbuda
and
The Dockyard Museum.
Visit Explore Antigua for places of interest, museums,
historical and general information on Antigua &
Barbuda.
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