Charles III Heir Apparent Nigel Phillips Executive Council Chief Minister Julie Thomas Speaker of Saint Helena Cyril Gunnell Trade unions in Saint Helena emerged in the late 1950s in the flax industry and subsequently played a prominent role in the island's democratisation in the 1960s.
In June 1958 the British Labour Party member of parliament, Cledwyn Hughes, visited the island and later reported to the Colonial Office that workers were living in "appalling poverty.
[2] The Saint Helena General Workers Union (SHGWU) was established on 23 July 1958 and on 22 September 1958 a strike launched at the Sandy Bay flax mill.
[3] In 1968, proposals to sell the island's largest commercial company, Solomon and Co., to a South African firm were met with demonstrations by the SHGWU.
[6] In 2013, during the construction of the Saint Helena Airport, workers went on strike over employment terms and conditions; it was reported as the first industrial action on the island in half a century.