Clement Payne

Clement Osbourne Payne (1904 – 7 April 1941) was a Trinidad-born pioneer in the Caribbean trade union movement. By an act of Parliament in 1998, Payne was named as one of the eleven National Heroes of Barbados.

Biography Payne was born in Trinidad in 1904 to Barbadian parents who moved back to Barbados when he was four years old. The police opened fire, killing 14 demonstrators and wounding 47. The rioting led to a political commission of inquiry (the Moyne Commission) to investigate the situation in Barbados and other British West Indies colonies. The Moyne Commission determined that all of Payne's charges against the island's rulers were accurate. In its report, it insisted on reforms that Payne had proposed, including the introduction of trade union legislation.

Payne died at the age of 37 in 1941.

Legacy The Clement Payne Movement is a leftist Barbadian political party named after Payne.

The Clement Payne Cultural Centre was set up in Barbados in 1989 to perpetuate his memory and to continue his work of enlightening Barbadians about their history and struggle. There is a Clement Payne Memorial Bust in Golden Square, Bridgetown.