The General Workers' Union (GWU) was a

general union A general union is a trade union (called ''labor union'' in American English) which represents workers from all industries and companies, rather than just one organisation or a particular sector, as in a craft union or industrial union. A gen ...

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

. The union was founded in 1939 by Antonio Soberanis Gómez, as the British Honduras Workers and Tradesmen's Union. In 1934, he had formed the Unemployed Brigade, followed by the Labourers' and Unemployed Association, but both had dissolved. This new organisation was the first in the country to describe itself as a

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 ...

. In 1943, new legislation permitted trade unions to register with the government, and what was soon renamed the General Workers' Union was the first to do so. The ''Belize Billboard'' newspaper was founded in 1946, and initially championed the GWU. In 1947 it led a strike of sawmill workers at the Belize Estate and Produce Company, which succeeded in obtaining pay increases. By 1948, the union had 5,000 members. That year, its president, Clifford Betson, gave a speech in favour of socialism, to which the ''Billboard'' objected. In 1950, the union absorbed the small Mercantile Clerks' Union. That year, Nicholas Pollard defeated Betson as president of the union, and its leadership gradually became shared with that of the

People's United Party The People's United Party (, PUP) is one of two major political parties in Belize. It is currently the governing party of Belize after success in the 2025 Belizean general election, winning a majority of 26 seats out of 31 in the Belizean Hou ...

(PUP). Alongside the party, the GWU played an important role in the anticolonial movement, and it led a general strike in 1952, which was largely aimed at supporting the party. The strike weakened the union's finances. However, it maintained its links with the party, and for the 1954 British Honduras general election, it selected the PUP's five candidates for seats outside

Belize City Belize City is the largest city in Belize. It was once the capital city, capital of the former British Honduras. According to the 2022 census, Belize City has a population of 63,999 people. It is at the mouth of the Haulover Creek, which is a ...

, four of which were won. In 1955, there was a dispute within the union over whether Pollard, by then general secretary, has misused funds donated by the

Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters Founded in 1925, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and Maids (commonly referred to as the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, BSCP) was the first labor organization led by African Americans to receive a charter in the American Federation o ...

, intended to support victims of

Hurricane Janet Hurricane Janet was the most powerful tropical cyclone of the 1955 Atlantic hurricane season and one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record. Janet was also the first named storm to cause 1,000 deaths and the first Category 5 storm name ...

. This led Pollard, in 1956, to resign for the union, and establish the rival Christian Democratic Union. This was accompanied by a split in the PUP, with the GWU siding with the new

Honduran Independence Party The Honduran Independence Party was a short-lived 1950s political party in Belize. It was essentially a splinter group of the People's United Party (PUP). Background: Central Committee resignations A convention held by the People's United Party ...

. In 1960, the union absorbed the British Honduras Development Union, renaming itself as the British Honduras General Workers' Development Union. In 1979, it merged with the Southern Christian Union, to form the United General Workers Union.

References

General unions Trade unions in Belize Politics of British Honduras Trade unions established in 1939 Trade unions disestablished in 1979 1939 establishments in British Honduras British Honduras in World War II {{NorthAm-trade-union-stub