[2] 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.
Coombs together with Hugh Clifford Buchanan, a mason by trade, founded the Jamaica Workers and Tradesmen's Union (JWTU)[3] on May 17, 1936.
Finally, on December 30, Coombs and his union felt confident enough to challenge the colonial administration by staging a march of the unemployed.
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'.
He was elected in North West St James, and was appointed as Minister of Communications and Works in Norman Manley's government, prior to the country's independence.