The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) holds close the indomitable spirit, bravery and sacrifice of national heroine Kowsilla, on the 50th anniversary of her death.
Kowsilla, called Alice, was an active member of the Women’s Progressive Organisation (WPO) who met her savage death while protesting against the inhumane and exploitative conditions at the Leonora Sugar Estate. Sugar workers had staged a vigorous strike against the British Colonial Estate Manager Roy Ryder and the Leonora estate management who tried to break the industrial action that had significantly paralysed the fields and factory operations, GAWU said in a press release.
“From some divide-and-rule tactics to outright intimidation and threats, he abused the striking workers but failed to break their resolve,” the press release said. On March 6, 1964, Ryder ordered that a tractor driven by a scab be used to clear the main bridge, close to the factory on which Kowsilla and her fellow workers were squatting.
Kowsilla and a number of other women had formed a peaceful human barricade to resist the use of the tractors by a few scabs who had been trying to keep the estate going. However, she stood her ground and was crushed to death. Fourteen other women were also injured, some severely which prevented them from being able to work again.
GAWU said the incident exemplified Kowsilla’s bravery and her death held the banner for the recognition struggle. Fifty years later, her indomitable will and spirit continues to dwell in the hearts, minds and memory of the union’s members and friends.
