The OWTU was formally established just days later on 25 July 1937, at its Founding Conference, held at Saltfish Hall, Mucurapo Street in San Fernando.

With Butler having to go into hiding after 19 June, due to a warrant for his arrest on sedition and treason charges, a leader emerged – Adrian Cola Rienzi – who became the Union's first President General.

Unemployment was high and wages which were low were reduced even as the employer class sought to ensure that they lost little in the face of the global economic crisis precipitated by the Wall Street crash of 1929 and the Great Depression that followed.

The uprising lasted until 2 July, and the colonial authorities required the intervention of British troops from two battleships the Exeter and the Ajax to quell the protests.

At the same time, the vast majority of workers faced social conditions such as very poor housing, inadequate health care, the lack of educational opportunities and racial discrimination, among other ills.