On 66th Enmore Martyrs’ Day

On June 16, 1948, five sugar workers were shot by colonial police, while they were demonstrating for better working conditions.
Mr. Ramotar pointed out that the Enmore Martyrs fight was one of the turning points in Guyana’s history, as they not only fought for better working conditions, but for industrial democracy and for political independence and the right to self-determination.
“It (the Enmore Martyrs’ fight) brought together several strands of struggle that were occurring in our country…it brought together an economic struggle. At the same time it developed into a struggle for industrial democracy, to recognise and a have a union of the workers’ choice, and developed into the call for political independence for Guyana,” he said.

Early on the morning of the fateful June 16, 1948, a crowd of about 400 workers gathered outside the factory at Enmore for a protest and picketing exercise. By 10:00hrs, the crowd had grown to between 500 and 600 persons. Several persons managed to enter the compound at the rear of the factory. The policemen tried to push back the crowd, but after this effort failed, they opened fire. Five workers were killed and 14 others were injured. Lallabagee Kissoon, 30, was shot in the back; 19-year-old Pooran was shot in the leg and pelvis; Rambarran died from bullet wounds in his leg; Dookhie died in hospital later that day; and Harry died the following day from severe spinal injuries. These men, through the years, became known as the Enmore Martyrs.
In April 1948, cane cutters in British Guiana went on strike, calling for the replacement of “cut and load” with a “cut and drop” system, by which the cane cutters should cut the cane. They also demanded higher wages and improved living conditions on the sugar estates. However, the real aim of the strike was to demand recognition of the Guyana Industrial Workers Union (GIWU) as the bargaining union for the field and factory workers on all the sugar estates in the country. On June 16, the Sugar Producers Association (SPA) and the Man Power Citizens Association (MPCA) met to discuss the issues, but no satisfactory agreement was reached; in any case, the workers felt very strongly that the union was betraying their interests. It was this that led to the protest action on June 16, 1948.