The Cost of Freedom

The Cost of Freedom is an indepth analysis of the structure and functions of Trinidad and Tobago ’s first major labour organisation, the Trinidad Workingmen’s Association (TWA), and its international linkages. The study focuses particularly on the role of the TWA (which was later known as the Trinidad Labour Party) in the evolution of working class consciousness from its rudimentary stages to the subsequent rise of the new trade unionism of the post-1937 era. Consideration is given to the seminal role of the Association as mobiliser and organiser of the working class both for participation in electoral politics, and as a catalyst for ethnic cohesion in Trinidad and Tobago ’s post-indentureship society. Against the background of initiatives towards self-government in the British West Indies, this work examines the pioneering efforts of the Labour movement in Trinidad in the promotion of both Caribbean political integration, and regional trade union solidarity. Finally, an analysis is made of the vicissitudes of trade unionism in the colony and the reasons for its fragmentation in the 1940s.