Thorne led the British Guiana Labour Union, the country's first worker's union. He also founded and led the country's second trade union, the British Guiana Workers' League, in 1931.[17] He served as the League's leader for 22 years. The League sought to protect basic human rights and improve the working conditions of Guyanese people of all ethnic backgrounds, many of whom had originally been brought to the British colony under a system of forced labor (slavery) or indentured servitude, or who were Amerindian natives of the land now occupied and taken over under the forces of European imperialism. He was also popular among the working class British community members for his advocacy on behalf of those who labored in factories long before the workplace safety standards and labor laws of today were enacted.
