The Bathurst Trade Union (BTU) was the first

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

The Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...

and the first legally registered trade union in the African continent. Founded by Edward Francis Small in 1929 in Bathurst (now

Banjul Banjul (, (US) and ), officially the City of Banjul, is the capital city of The Gambia. It is the centre of the eponymous administrative division which is home to an estimated 400,000 residents, making it The Gambia's largest and most densely ...

), the organisation emerged from the Carpenters' and Shipwrights' Society. In October the same year the BTU was joined by other craft associations. The BTU received support from the British

Labour Research Department The Labour Research Department (LRD) is an independent trade union based research organisation, based in London, that provides information to support trade union activity and campaigns. About 2,000 trade union organisations, including 51 national ...

and the British section of the

League against Imperialism The League Against Imperialism and Colonial Oppression (; ) was a transnational anti-imperialist organisation in the interwar period. It has also been referred to as the League of Oppressed People, and the World Anti-Imperialist League, or simp ...

. In the fall of 1929, BTU led a 3-week strike and membership grew rapidly that by April 1930 membership stood at around 1,000. Later, the BTU was torn apart by internal divisions. In 1932 Small was challenged for the union's leadership by J. L. Njie. The conflict had both political and ethnic aspects (Njie was a

Wolof Wolof or Wollof may refer to: * Wolof people, an ethnic group found in Senegal, Gambia, and Mauritania * Wolof language, a language spoken in Senegal, Gambia, and Mauritania * The Wolof or Jolof Empire, a medieval West African successor of the Mal ...

). Njie had the support of the conservative elites of the city, who were uncomfortable with Small's activism. In March 1933, Njie registered the BTU with himself as its chairman. Small tried to regain power of the BTU for two years, but in May 1935 he broke away and formed the Gambia Labour Union instead. In the 1961 groundnut trade season, Alieu Ebrima Cham Joof — a member of the Select Committee and an old protegế of Edward Francis Small together with his associates at the Gambia Workers' Union organised a national strikes against the British colonial authorities and the Chambers of Commerce. The purpose of that strike was to demand proper remuneration for the daily paid workers who were poorly paid. The strike went on for five days. In that strike, Joof jumped on the stage and proclaimed to his followers that he is going to set the country on fire if needs be but "nobody is going to work for them" he British

Foroyaa ''Foroyaa'' is a newspaper located in Serrekunda, the Gambia. It was first launched in July 1987, and is owned by the People's Democratic Organisation for Independence and Socialism (PDOIS), an opposition political party that was instrumental in b ...

Exclusive interview with Foroyaa Panorama (TRIBUTE TO ALHAJI A.E. CHAM JOOF"
(16 May 2011)

References

Banjul Trade unions in the Gambia Trade unions established in 1929 Defunct trade unions of Africa Edward Francis Small {{Africa-trade-union-stub

See also

References