Black Trade Union Solidarity Movement

Bernie Grant letter to BTUSM after rioting [BG:BTU:1:1]

This document is a letter from Bernie Grant to the Black Trade Unionists Solidarity Movement following rioting, calling for black trade unionists to organize a Civil Rights Movement to combat racism at work and in the community. It is valuable for understanding Grant's leadership role in mobilizing black workers and his efforts to build disciplined, united activism within the trade union and wider black civil rights struggles during a period of social unrest.

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Like many other projects, The BTUSM represented an important attempt to encourage Black self-organisation amidst institutional racism. Having set up the organisation in the 1980s, during a period of nation-wide strikes, civil uprisings and intensifying racism in housing, policing, education and employment, Grant argued that “as Black people, we need to organise ourselves to defend our youth and to fight racism at work, at play and on the streets”. He warned against any tendencies of organisational splits, personality clashes and lack of organisation, which had in the past led to the demise of similar politicising projects.

Black Worker's Conference [BG:BTUSM:1:1]

This document is a call to organise and attend the Black Workers Conference held on September 12th, 1981, following a meeting of 80 black trade unionists who formed a steering committee to address the specific challenges faced by black workers during economic restructuring. It is useful for understanding the grassroots labour activism linked to Bernie Grant's campaign and the broader theme of racial and labour rights, highlighting efforts to create black caucuses within unions to combat workplace oppression and economic exclusion.

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This became a key aim of the BTUSM. In 1983, the Black Workers Conference was organised, and prompted debate on significant issues such as the dearth of Black representation in union management level, and a lack of appreciation or acknowledgement of Black history and culture in the Worker’s movement. In this same year, the infamous US invasion of the Caribbean island of Grenada took place, causing outrage throughout the African diaspora. The invasion itself was triggered by a crisis within Grenada’s government, when the leader of the nation and People’s Revolutionary Government, Maurice Bishop, was placed under house arrest and executed. The subsequent US military invasion was, for many, an ill-intentioned military intervention by a global power which led only to greater crisis and chaos for the Grenadian people. The BTUSM took this issue up, and released a statement condemning the invasion and the complicity of the Thatcher government, and vowed to contribute financial support as well as raise the issue within Labour Party and Trade Union networks. This statement is a shining example of the internationalist approach of the BTUSM and other British-based Black workers initiatives.

BTUSM Statement on Grenada [BG:BTU:1:3]

This document is a 1983 statement from the Black Trade Unionists Solidarity Movement condemning the US-led invasion of Grenada and expressing solidarity with the New Jewel Movement, highlighting demands for troop withdrawal, compensation, and an international inquiry. It is useful for understanding Bernie Grant’s involvement in Black labour activism and the political context of his solidarity with anti-imperialist campaigns during the era.

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