David Abdulah is a

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

trade unionist, economist and politician. He served as the General Secretary of the

Oilfields Workers' Trade Union The Oilfields Workers' Trade Union (OWTU) is one of the most powerful trade unions in Trinidad and Tobago. Currently led by Ancel Roget, the union was born out of the Labour riots of 1937, 1937 labour riots, the union was nominally led by the ...

(OWTU), and is the current leader of the

Movement for Social Justice The Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) is a Socialism, socialist political party in Trinidad and Tobago founded in March 2009. Its logo is the Scales of Justice. Its current leader is David Abdulah, a former government senator and general secretar ...

(MSJ). Abdulah served as a government senator from 2010 to 2012 during the 10th Republican Parliament.

Early life and education

David Abdulah is the son of retired Anglican bishop

Clive Abdulah Clive Orminston Abdulah (born 5 June 1927) is a retired Bishop of Trinidad who continues to serve the Anglican Church, Church as an assistant bishop and a member of the Anglican Consultative Council. Biography Born in Woodbrook, Port of Spain, T ...

and his wife Mariko, who was Canadian of Japanese ancestry. Born in Jamaica, while his father was serving as a parish priest in a rural community there, he attended the

University of the West Indies at St. Augustine The University of the West Indies at St. Augustine is a public university, public research institute, research university in St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago. It is one of 5 general campuses in the University of the West Indies system, which a ...

, in Trinidad, obtaining a B.A. degree in mathematics and economics. His political and labour activism began during his student days at St. Augustine.

Career

Abdulah worked for the OWTU from 1978 until his retirement in 2016. He served as its Chief Education and Research Officer, and was Secretary General of the union from 2008 to 2016. He also served as president of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions and Non-Governmental Organisations (FITUN) until 2012, when he chose not to stand for re-election. The MSJ was party to the Fyzabad Accord which formed the

People's Partnership The People's Partnership (PP) was a political coalition in Trinidad and Tobago among five political parties: the United National Congress (UNC), the Congress of the People (COP), the Tobago Organization of the People (TOP), Movement for Social ...

(PP), and after the PP's victory in the 2010 general elections Abdulah was appointed to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

as a government senator representing the MSJ. After the resignation of Errol McLeod, the party's political leader, from the MSJ in January 2012, Abdulah took over as interim political leader of the MSJ. In June, the MSJ under Abdulah's leadership withdrew from the PP government. Abdulah was the MSJ candidate for the

Pointe-à-Pierre Pointe-à-Pierre ( ) is a town in Trinidad and Tobago. It lies north of San Fernando and south of Claxton Bay. It is most famous as the site of the country's largest (and now, only) oil refinery which used to be run by Petrotrin, the state-ow ...

seat in the 2020 general elections. He placed third of four candidates behind the

United National Congress The United National Congress ( UNC or UNCTT) is one of two major political parties in Trinidad and Tobago. The UNC is a Centre-left politics, centre-left party. It was founded in 1989 by Basdeo Panday, a Trinidadian lawyer, economist, trade unio ...

's David Lee and the

People's National Movement The People's National Movement (PNM) is the longest-serving and oldest active Politics of Trinidad and Tobago, political party in Trinidad and Tobago. The party has dominated national and local politics for much of Trinidad and Tobago's hist ...

's Daniel Dookie. The party did not contest the 2025 general elections.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abdulah, David Living people Trinidad and Tobago trade unionists 20th-century Trinidad and Tobago politicians 21st-century Trinidad and Tobago politicians Trinidad and Tobago economists Members of the Senate (Trinidad and Tobago) Leaders of political parties in Trinidad and Tobago University of the West Indies alumni