In his very significant work entitled, The Evolution of Labour Relations Legislation in Trinidad and Tobago, Chucks Okpaluba stated the following:

The experience of Trinidad & Tobago in the sphere of labour relations legislation is not only unique; it is also a chequered one. It is an experience that preceded the development of trade unionism and the practice of labour relations in Trinidad & Tobago. The crucial date for the commencement of the study of the evolution of labour relations legislation in that territory is 1920 for the simple reason that it was in that year that such an enactment made its first appearance.

The difficulty with the highlighted sentence in this statement is the author’s use of the adjective ‘crucial’ to describe the date for commencement of the study of the evolution of labour relations legislation in Trinidad and Tobago. The author may have meant ‘official’ in relation to ‘modern’ legislation but could certainly not have meant ‘crucial’. Because to accept 1920 as the ‘crucial’ date for the commencement of the study of the evolution of labour relations legislation in these former plantation colonies would totally erase from consideration the significant, systematic and complex body of laws which regulated the labour relations between slaves, indentured servants and their masters.