Alexander Bustamante Biography

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Biography Part 4 - Labour Riots

Bustamante became involved in many strikes in Jamaica during the 1930s. He supported a notorious strike in Frome, Westmoreland, in 1937 where six people were killed and 89 were arrested. In the same year he acted as a mediator in a strike at the Serge Island Estate in St. Thomas.

Bustamante believed that the British authorities were not aware of the dire conditions being experienced by the poor of Jamaica because they were being given misleading information by Denham, the Governor of Jamaica at the time. On 4 May 1938, as part of his address to a crowd of 700 he said "Long live the King, but Denham must go". Later that month he called a strike to support the Kingston port workers' demands for higher wages.

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