10
THE LEGACY OF THE
BARBADOS LABOUR PARTY
the air and seaports; free secondary schools
and technical institutes; low and middle income
housing; the establishment of polyclinics and the
planning and commencement of the construction
of the QEH.
The BLP moved the country from an agrarian
society, primarily dominated by sugar production,
to a more diversified economy. It established the
Development Board, the forerunner to the BIDC
and theTourist Board. This led to the development
of the manufacturing and tourism sectors. Two
major initiatives also transformed the fishing
industry, namely the shift from sail to engines in
the 1950s and the move to ice boats in the late
1970s onwards.
Barbados entered a newandenlightenedphase of
its history in the 1930s, after an oppressive social
and economic environment led to the 1937 riots
and the eventual formation in 1938 of Barbados’
first political organisation, the Barbados Labour
Party, (BLP).
This was a transformative period marked by the
formation of the Barbados Workers Union (BWU),
by the BLP in 1941, to fight for the protection
of workers’ rights. The BLP set about social
transformation through: laws to ameliorate
the appalling working conditions of workers;
adult suffrage, self-government and cabinet
government, the pillars on which our democracy
was established; critical infrastructure including
Members of the J.M.G.M. ‘Tom” Adams Cabinet.
From front left: Lindsay Bolden, Sir Henry Forde,
Dame Billie Miller , Nigel Barrow, Vic Johnson,
DeLisle Bradshaw, Sir Richard ‘Johnny’ Cheltenham
