THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE PORTUGUESE OF TRINIDAD TOWARDS NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

TRIBUTE TO PROMINENT LABOUR LEADER
ALBERT MARIA GOMES
In Trinidad and Tobago many people tend to associate Labour Day Celebrations with one man “ TUBAL URIAH BUTLER” , but he was only one of the Labour Leaders in our country. Today the ABVMOTT recognizes the contribution of Albert Maria Gomes for his contribution towards the trade union movement.
Gomes played a significant part in the establishment of the development of Unionism in T& T . It's a sad day when we only pay tribute to a few of our labour leaders forgetting that there were other individuals also made significant contributions to our country's development.
Who was ALBERT MARIA GOMES (1911-1978) and what were his contributions towards the labour movement in T & T?
Albert Maria Gomes of Portuguese descent was born in Belmont, Port of Spain, Trinidad. Ever since 1930s he was an active trade union leader. In fact he wore many hats .He was a unionist, politician, and was the first Chief Minister of Trinidad and Tobago. He was the founder of the Political Progress Groups and later led the Party of Political Progress Groups. He was active in the formation of the Democratic Labour Party(DLP) in Trinidad and Tobago
In the 1930s, Gomes demanded workers’ rights, more pay, and criticised the colonial power structure with revolutionary arguments. During the 1940s, Gomes was elected the President of the Federated Workers Trade Union (FWTU) working together with Quintin O'Connor as the Secretary he and his team were successful in building up the FWTU a movement which played a critical role in the establishment of unionism in Trinidad and Tobago.
In 1938 Albert Gomes was elected into the Port-of-Spain City Council in 1938, in which he served for nine years. In 1945, he was furrher elected as a member of the Legislative Council, and made a member of the Executive Council in 1946.
From 1950 to 1956, Gomes was re-elected to the Legislative Council and served as the pre-Independence Minister of Labour, Industry and Commerce. He was leader of the conservative Party of Political Progress Groups (POPPG). From 1958, he served as a member of the West Indies Federal House of Representatives, which dissolved with the break-down of the Federation in 1962. When the POPPG was defeated by the only nine-month old People’s National Movement (PNM) in the 1956 election by winning 13 out of the 24 seats (that is, 1,458 votes more than the POPPG), Gomes took the defeat very hard and left Trinidad to live in England.
WE SALUTE YOU ALBERT MARIA GOMES, PATRIOT AND SON OF THE SOIL FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS TOWARDS THE ESTABLISHMENT OF UNIONISM IN T & T.
Credit to sources “THE PORTUGUESE OF TRINIDAD & TOBAGO and WHO, WHAT, WHY , Trinidad 1950 and the Virtual Museum of Trinidad and Tobago.