On D. Hamilton Jackson Day, a day set aside to commemorate the Virgin Islands’ greatest labor leader, members of the striking American Federation of Teachers literally turned their backs on Gov. Charles Turnbull.
Turnbull was speaking Wednesday at the annual event in St. Croix's Grove Place that honors Jackson, a government-wide holiday also called Liberty Day or Bull and Bread Day, when teachers showed their displeasure with him by turning their backs. The snub of the governor came on day 16 of the AFT’s strike to force a salary increase.
The venue for the union’s statement was not lost on the hundreds of people in attendance at the event in Grove Place. Jackson,born in Christiansted, established the first labor union in what was then the Danish West Indies. He was also the publisher of the DWI’s first private newspaper, The Herald. Jackson had to travel to Denmark to petition the King to remove a law that only allowed government-subsidized newspapers.
Along with his activities as a publisher and the labor movement, Jackson was also a member of the Colonial and Municipal Councils, one of the authors of the Organic Act, an educator, lawyer and judge. He died in 1946 at the age of 62.
