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Markdown
93 lines
5.0 KiB
Markdown
The **Uba Strike of 1937** was a [strike](List_of_Strikes "wikilink") by
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sugar workers in [Mauritius](Mauritius "wikilink") in
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[1937](Timeline_of_Libertarian_Socialism_in_Southern_Africa "wikilink").
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## Background
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In the 1870s, large sugar estates sold off their less productive land to
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Indian Mauritians that formed a small class of landowners called Sirdars
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Large sugar estates sold off less productive land to better-off Indian
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Mauritians from the 1870s onward forming a class of small land owners
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who came to be known as Sirdars. The Sidars used family labour to make
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their sugar plots profitable. The Sidars also acted as middlemen between
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sharecropping rural workers and the Franco-Mauritian elite that owned
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the large Sugar Cane estates. This created a distance between labourers
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and the land owning elite who ran the Sugar Mills resulting in a lack of
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any mechanism for the cane labourers to raise grievances with their
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employers. The owners of the large sugar plantations held a very strong
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political position within the local government of Mauritius. Both due to
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their economic power and because the British colonial government was
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concerned about aggravating pro-French sentiment amongst
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Franco-Mauritians during the 1800s. Fearing that they would agitate
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either for independence or to become a French colony again. This further
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prevent labour reform on the island and aggravated the difficult working
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conditions of the sugar can labourers.<sup>\[3\]</sup>
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To help address this issue and improve overall working conditions for
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rural labourers the Mauritian Labour Party (MLP) was founded on the 23
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February 1936 by Dr Maurice Curé and Emmanuel ‘Jacques’
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Anquetil.<sup>\[3\]</sup>
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### Uba price
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Many small scale farmers planted the hardier but less productive Uba
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variety of sugarcane. Although Uba produced more cane by weight it also
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had a lower sucrose content than traditional varieties of sugarcane
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meaning that the mills would produce less refined sugar from it. Since
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the growers of sugarcane were paid by weight the sugar refineries
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experienced lower profits whilst the growers were paid more per harvest.
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In July 1937, at the beginning of that year's sugarcane harvest, the
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sugar refineries announced that they would only accept Uba cane for
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fifteen percent less than regular sugarcane. This combined with the
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depressed state of the sugar market internationally put great economic
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strain on growers.<sup>\[1\]</sup>
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Following the announcement of the fifteen percent reduction in the Uba
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cane price labourers on the Rich Fund estate asked the Sirdars or
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managers to intervene to raise the price. After getting no satisfaction
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the labourers went on strike and caused a number of minor disturbances.
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Due to similar strikes in Trinidad at the time the British government in
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Mauritius initially sought a conciliatory approach whilst the Labour
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Party held rallies calling for political and economic reform. By
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mid-August the strikes had spread to other sugar estates across the
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island. The government sought to negotiate with the sugar refineries to
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increase the price of Uba cane but a few estates refused. One of the
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estates that refused to increase the price,<sup>\[1\]</sup> the
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Union-Flacq estate owned by R.Gujadhur,<sup>\[2\]</sup> became the
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target of arson attacks and property damage. This along with a
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suggestion by the police to deal with their own security lead to the
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stockpiling of weapons on the estate.<sup>\[1\]</sup>
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## Riots
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On the 13 August 1937 around two hundred small planters and labourers
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marched on the refinery at Union-Flacq. Armed staff at the refinery met
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the demonstrators who then attempted to storm the facility. Fearing for
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their personal safety the staff fired on the demonstrators. The
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encounter resulted in the deaths of six protesters and wounding four
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more. The protesters dispersed whilst setting fire to surrounding sugar
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cane fields.<sup>\[1\]\[4\]</sup> Word spread and protests lasted for an
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additional two weeks acrResultse island.<sup>\[1\]</sup>
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## Impact
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Following the riots and a commission of inquiry in 1938 the local
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British government repealed the ban on labour unions, created a
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framework for collective bargaining, and setup the Mauritian Department
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of Labour whilst also creating institutions to help arbitrate grievances
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between employers and labourers.<sup>\[1\]</sup> The event also had a
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big impact on the Mauritian Labour Party. Although Emmanuel Anquetil was
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exiled to Rodrigues the party profile was greatly enhanced helping to
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create the conditions for it to take over as the first governing party
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of an independent Mauritius around thirty years later. The legalising of
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labour unions in addition to the other reforms also greatly enhanced
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labour conditions.<sup>\[3\]</sup> The incident also led to the
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democratisation of agricultural extension and research services to small
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scale sugarcane farmers. Thereby increasing their access to technology
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and improving their long term economic standing.<sup>\[1\]</sup>
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## References
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[Wikipedia](Wikipedia "wikilink") - [Uba riots
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of 1937](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uba_riots_of_1937) |