Sir Vere Cornwall Bird is revered as the father of the nation, first Prime Minister, first Premier and a life-long trade unionist. What is not well known is that he was a litigant in a case that went all the way to the Privy Council. This is the case of Bird v O'nNeale and it is the second case in this series. This case is still one of the leading cases on strikes and picketing.
Miss O'Neale was the owner of a drug store in St. John;s. Miss Averyl Winter was a clerk employed at the store on a weekly basis. She was dismissed by Miss O'Neale without reason nor notice, but she was paid a week's wages in lieu of notice.
Miss Winter was a member of the Antigua Trades and Labour Union and the Union agreed to take up her case. Miss O'Neale refused to budge in the negotiations and she did not offer any further compensation. The Union's executive then organised a daily picket of the drug store. This was a very aggressive picket, as the picketers were paid and they discouraged pedestrians from entering the store. Ultimately this led to court proceedings between Mr. Bird and Miss O'Neale.
Now at that time Trade unions were sued by businesses ( for nuisance, conspiracy ant intimidation) if they organised a picket or a strike.
Miss O'Neale's lawyer argued that in order for there to be a lawful picket, the picketers had to be protesting an unlawful dismissal. Since, they argued, the dismissal was lawful, the picket was therefore unlawful. The Privy Council rejected this argument. There was a bona fide dispute between the union and the employer concerning the compensation due to Miss Winter and the fact that she had been validly dismissed did not mean that they could not engage in a picket.
Picketing is an important form of industrial action today. It should not be taken for granted
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