"We Are Because They Were”: Senator O’Donoghue Delivers Stirring Message at AT&LU Conference

Senator the Hon. Angelica O’Donoghue’s call for renewed solidarity, worker development and a deeper appreciation of the historic relationship between the Antigua and Barbuda Trades and Labour Union (AT&LU) and the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) received strong commendations at the Union’s 87th Annual Delegates’ Conference on Sunday.

Delivering remarks on behalf of the ABLP under the conference theme, “Developing Stronger Workers, Stronger Future,” Senator O’Donoghue centered her address around the African philosophy of Ubuntu - “I am because we are”- using it to underscore the shared history and enduring bond between the Labour movement, the Union and the Party.

Her remarks drew commendations from AT&LU President Bernard de Nully, Chief of Staff in the Office of the Prime Minister, Ambassador Lionel “Max” Hurst, as well as delegates and other attendees of the conference.

One of the central messages of the address was that the Labour Party’s history cannot be separated from that of the trade union movement.

“We are because you were. The Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party is, because the Antigua Trades and Labour Union was,” Senator O’Donoghue told delegates.

She described the Union as not merely part of Labour’s history, but “the root of Labour’s history,” while reflecting on the journey from 46 North Street and Emancipation House to The People’s Place and the generations of workers who organized to advance better wages, working conditions and political representation.

While paying homage to that foundation, Senator O’Donoghue stressed that preserving the Labour movement also requires preparing workers for a rapidly changing future.

She pointed to artificial intelligence, automation, the digital economy, cybersecurity and climate change as forces reshaping the modern workplace, arguing that trade unions must increasingly complement their traditional role of defending workers’ rights with education, training and skills development.

In that regard, she congratulated President de Nully and the Union’s Executive on its scholarship and education initiatives, including the presentation of certificates from the UWI Global Campus during the conference.

“Representation protects where you are. Development expands where you can go,” she said, encouraging the Union to further pursue opportunities in technical and vocational certification, digital skills, artificial intelligence, management, entrepreneurship and financial literacy.

Senator O’Donoghue also issued a challenge to the Labour movement to ensure that modernization does not result in the loss of its history and founding principles.

“Modernization must never become amnesia,” she declared, urging older generations to teach young people about the struggles that produced many of the rights workers enjoy today, while simultaneously creating space for a new generation to lead.

Looking ahead to the Union’s centenary in 2039, Senator O’Donoghue challenged delegates to consider what future workers would say about the stewardship of the present generation, particularly whether it prepared workers for change, invested in education, opened opportunities for women and young people, strengthened collective bargaining and modernized while preserving the movement’s core values.

She closed by returning to the message of Ubuntu and the responsibility each generation carries to the next.

“From 46 North Street to The People’s Place. From 1939 to 2026. From the workers who first organized, to the young worker holding a university certificate today, the thread remains unbroken,” she said.

“I am because we are. We are because they were. And those who come after us will be, because of what we choose to do today.”