In the mid-1960s a clash developed between Bird, still president of the ATLU, and a group of ATLU officials including General Secretary George Walter and ATLU executive member Donald Halstead. Neither Walter nor Halstead held government positions and both believed the union should represent workers rather than act on behalf of the government. According to Smith, Bird initially kept Walter and Halstead at bay by arbitrarily overturning the results of a union election in 1966. A year later Bird orchestrated their dismissal as union officials, alleging that they were blocking government efforts to save the sugar industry. Many in the ATLU still revered Bird, and his loyalists in government worked diligently to preserve his image as a national hero. But Walter and Halstead were well respected as negotiators and organizers. When they founded the independent Antigua Workers Union (AWU) in mid-1967, thousands of ATLU members, as well as numerous key organizers, went with them. The Bird administration countered by firing government workers who joined the AWU, while private investors, desiring to keep their government-granted tax free status, followed suit. The AWU called a general strike, supported by civil service workers led by teacher Tim Hector, inaugurating a tense, often violent period which saw the first imposition of martial law in nearly 50 years. The government eventually backed down. It granted legal status to the AWU, and agreed to by-elections for four newly created seats. In preparation for the 1968 by-elections, the AWU, the ABDM, and the Antigua Progressive Movement (APM), a small party of lawyers and business people, formed the Progressive Labour Movement (PLM) under the leadership of George Walter. The PLM defeated the ATLU in all four races and became the first opposition to hold elected seats since the advent of universal suffrage in 1951. At the 1969 ATLU convention V.C. Bird arranged to be succeeded as union president by a loyal associate, then oversaw the creation of the Antigua Labour Party (ALP) with himself at the helm. Meanwhile, the AWU had successfully won bargaining rights in much of the private sector. As the PLM geared for the next elections in 1971, Walter resigned as AWU general secretary to devote his time to the campaign. The PLM, backed by the AWU and maintaining the momentum it had established in the 1968 by-elections, won the 1971 vote by taking 14 seats against three for the ALP. The electoral boundaries were redrawn prior to the 1971 elections and the number of constituencies had been increased from 14 to 17. Walter became the new premier while V.C. Bird, defeated in his own constituency, was out of public office for the first time in his career.
Posted on: Thu, 07 Nov 2013 16:37:34 +0000
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