Sir Randol Fawkes was a free trade unionist, civil rights activist and author who had an important impact on the modern Bahamas. Fawkes is often referred to as “the father of Labour” in the Bahamas for the work he did in establishing the trade union movement in The Bahamas.
In 1961, he successfully a bill through the House of Assembly which established Labour Day as a public holiday. Fawkes pushed for a Labour Day Holiday as he thought a day should be set aside and designated as Labour Day as “a fitting memorial to the contributions made by the working people to the progress of the Colony.”
In recognition of his outstanding contributions to the trade union movement and to the country, knighthood was conferred on Sir Randol by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth in 1978.
Sir Randol died in 2000 and in 2013, Senators debated and passed a bill to rename the Labour Day Holiday “The Randol Fawkes Labour Day”.
On this holiday, members of the labour unions from different organizations, as well as political parties, march in a large parade through the streets of downtown Nassau, usually in colourful uniforms. The parade ends at the Southern Recreation Grounds, where union leaders and local politicians deliver speeches.