After his graduation, he served on the County Council of Sunderland, where he was influenced by his surgical work with coal miners and workers in Newcastle.
When O’Neal returned to Barbados, progressive forces had already begun to agitate for greater rights for the labouring underclass against what had continued to be a plantocratic government.
This restricted democratic participation to the wealthy elite, many of them owners of the plantations that still dominated Barbados’ sugar cane economic landscape.
The League's early focus was the increased registration of these new voters, in an effort push through legislation that had been widely opposed by the elite.
As a part of this and with his background in Labour and democratic socialism, O’Neal also worked towards the organization and unionization of the workers, including representing them during strike action.