53:(JWTU) on May 17, 1936. Coombs described the very modest circumstances in which he and Buchanan started the JWTU. "On the 17th day of May, 1936, I contracted six labourers in the Kingston Race Course and they pledged themselves to be members of the society, which they asked me to find a suitable name for". He could hardly have known that within a year this organization would attract island wide support and lay the foundations for what would emerge from the labor rebellion of 1938.The first phase of organizational effort climaxed in October with the JWTU participating in a labor conference at Liberty Hall along with members of the UNIA, the ex-servicemen and the Masons' Co-operative Union. Finally, on December 30, Coombs and his union felt confident enough to challenge the colonial administration by staging a march of the unemployed. After disregarding the advice of the Deputy Mayor to turn back, the marchers were charged by the police. A description of this event was provided by Coombs in his memorandum to the Moyne Commission:"The people, all unarmed, were only carrying flags and banners bearing the words 'Starvation, Nakedness, Shelterless'. The
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was torn in pieces? while the poor and unfortunate people received their floggings which necessitated many going to the hospital for treatment." Coombs responded by threatening a larger demonstration, and, more importantly, called on progressive persons island-wide to become representatives of his
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where he rose to the rank of Lance
Corporal before he left in 1927. However, it was as a contractor in the Public Works Department that this powerfully built and charismatic figure became involved in the early national movement and the organization of labor.
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in 1901. He described himself as "a peasant of low birth, very limited education and a very poor man". He served first in the
Jamaica Constabulary Force, which he was rumoured to have left after defeating a white police officer in a fight. He then joined
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In memory of Alan St Claver Coombs,published: Sunday May 7, 2006, Arnold
Bertram, Contributor
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Towards
Decolonisation: Political, Labour and Economic Developments in Jamaica 1938-1945
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Ideology and Class
Conflict in Jamaica: The Politics of Rebellion by Abigail B. Bakan
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69:'s government, prior to the country's independence. He died in 1969. In 2013,
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Arise Ye
Starvelings: The Jamaican Labour Rebellion of 1938 and Its Aftermath
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Coombs together with Hugh
Clifford Buchanan, a mason by trade, founded the
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176:"Op-Ed: Three Forgotten Architects of Jamaica's Independence"
123:https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0773507450
16:For the American consciousness theorist, see
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36:Coombs was born in the Parish of St. Ann,
26:(August 1901 – 15 July 1969) was a
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159:"Mr Allan Coombs, ex-Minister, dies".
51:Jamaica Workers and Tradesmen's Union
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243:Government ministers of Jamaica
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174:Rowe, David (6 August 2012).
24:Allan George St Claver Coombs
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201:""Father Coombs" reburied"
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248:Jamaican trade unionists
61:Coombs later joined the
63:People's National Party
43:The West India Regiment
97:Hart, Richard (1999).
205:Radio Jamaica News
134:Post, Ken (2012).
180:Caribbean Journal
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238:1969 deaths
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211:21 February
185:21 February
18:Allan Combs
227:Categories
73:References
55:Union Jack
28:Jamaican
38:Jamaica
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