Brenna Mcilwain

Mcilwain 1

13 October 2015
Nathan R. Dill
Preserve Our Heritage

Trade Union Lady and Man of Labour

The Bermuda Industrial Union (BIU) is a general trade union in Bermuda that was
founded in 1946 and has a membership of 4200. The BIU is affiliated to the International Trade
Union Confederation, and Public Services International. Bermudian workers made desultory
attempts to organize themselves since the 1800's, and in 1919, the Bermuda Union of Teachers
was formed but it was the Bermuda Workers Association (BWA), founded in 1944, that paved
the way for change that went beyond improved working conditions for Bermudian workers. Dr.
E.F Gordon and Dr. Barbara Ball contributed their lives to The Bermuda Industrial Union as
advocates for workers.
In 1924 Dr. Edgar Fitzgerald Gordon arrived in Bermuda to open a West End medical
practice after practicing medicine in Scotland. He encountered ingrained racial, social and
political practices on the island. Dr. E.F Gordons qualifications were impeccable and as a black
intelligent man, he was feared from the moment he landed on the island. Despite his degrees and
years of practice, he was required by the Medical Board to sit what he described as an almost
impossible examination. To their dismay he passed, and they were obligated to licence him to
practice medicine in Bermuda. Since the only hospital in Bermuda, aided by public funds was
only allowed for white doctors and nurses, Dr. E.F Gordon was never allowed to practice
medicine there. He established his own surgery which people from all over the community
flocked towards and the same diagnostic skills he employed inside his surgery, squandered over
into his assessment of Bermudas social, economic and political ills.

Brenna Mcilwain

Mcilwain 1

13 October 2015
Nathan R. Dill
Preserve Our Heritage

One of the first major causes Dr. E.F Gordon took up was black Bermudian nurses whose
livelihood was put into jeopardy by the emergence of the Bermuda Welfare Society. The Welfare
Society, which was founded in 1925 by a group of suffragettes, among them Gladys Misick
Morrell, had put in place a much-needed service that delivered home health care, island-wide and
around the clock care, to lower income black and white Bermudians. Dr. Gordon found an outlet
for his passion for cricket at Somerset Cricket Club. He desired to raise the standard of cricket in
Bermuda by establishing a connection between Bermuda and the West Indies and recommended
the formation of a Bermuda Cricket Board of Control, which was done in 1938. Gordon was
active in organising the first West Indies cricket tour of Bermuda in 1939 but was left having to
cover the tours cost out of his own pocket after the white-run Cricket Board resisted at the
expense.
Dr. E.F Gordon turned his attention to Parliament and his first two attempts to win a seat
in 1933 and 1943 were unsuccessful. Gordon took his seat as a Member of Colonial Parliament
(MCP), but the Bermuda Workers Association (BWA) would become his true political platform.
The birth of the BWA led to the passage of Bermudas first trade union legislation, the Trade
Union and Disputes Act in 1946. The law was designed to clip the wings of the fledgling BWA,
making it illegal for a union to have a newspaper or operate a business. When the bill was
debated in Parliament, Gordon led efforts to have the offending clauses dropped, receiving
support from

Brenna Mcilwain

Mcilwain 1

13 October 2015
Nathan R. Dill
Preserve Our Heritage

Two white parliamentarians as well, but was outvoted by the more regressive MCPs.
Because the new law banned unions from being involved in political activities, the BWA
established the Bermuda Industrial Union. Dr. E.F Gordon wanted nothing more than to see the
country develop into a non-racial society with equal opportunity for all.
Dr. Barbara Ball known as Lady of Labour was the first female doctor to practice
medicine in Bermuda, and was essential in the trade union and civil rights movement in the
1950s and 60s. She devoted her life to the cause of workers rights, choosing a path that was
unthinkable for most members of her race and class; she was for many years viewed by the
islands white elite as a traitor.
Dr. Ball established herself and her practice in Bermuda. She became highly respected
and popular in the black community. Dr. Barbara Ball was the third female physician and the
first born-Bermudian woman to practise medicine in Bermuda. From the time she returned to
Bermuda in 1954 to her first public appearance in 1960, and delivered a thought-provoking
speech at one of the Committee for Universal Adult Suffrage (CUAS) meetings, working people
and Blacks were impressed by her and her passionate words had an impact on them. Dr. Barbara
Ball was troubled by the islands racial and economic inequalities, and her medical practice
eventually took a back seat to her role within the BIU, which she joined in 1961.

Brenna Mcilwain

Mcilwain 1

13 October 2015
Nathan R. Dill
Preserve Our Heritage

Dr. Barbara Ball lost her privileges at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital in 1964
because of her union activities, and as one of the leaders of the 1965 Bermuda Electrical Light
Company (BELCO) strike and her speeches and her alignment with the proponents of universal
adult suffrage resulted in Dr. Ball being asked to discontinue her partnership with The Bermuda
Medical Associates.

Bibliography
"The Loss of Dr. Barbara Ball." N.p., 14 Mar. 2011. Web. 22 Oct. 2015.
"Women of Conscience." Meredith Ebbin, 15 June 2011. Web. 22 Oct. 2015.

Brenna Mcilwain
13 October 2015
Nathan R. Dill
Preserve Our Heritage

Mcilwain 1