The union was established in 1937, by Allan Coombs, and the Marxist Hugh Clifford Buchanan.
Soon after, Percy A. Aiken led a breakaway, the Builders and Allied Trade Union.
[1] Alexander Bustamante joined the union, and soon became prominent by writing letters to the press regarding a strike wave in Jamaica.
However, at the end of the year, he demanded that the union's president should resign, in order that he could take up the post.
In February 1939, Bustamante led a campaign to recruit those workers to his union, culminating in a national strike in the industry.