Albert Williams (12 February 1927 – 28 November 2007) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

trade unionist A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (s ...

. Born in Stockport, Williams left school at the age of fourteen and completed an

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...

as a bricklayer with the

Manchester Corporation Manchester City Council is the local authority for Manchester, a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. Manchester is the sixth largest city in England by population. Its city council is composed of 96 councillors, three f ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, he served in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

South East Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

, remaining in the forces until 1948. He then returned to Manchester, finding work as a bricklayer, and joined both the Amalgamated Union of Building Trade Workers (AUBTW) and the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB).Jim Jump,
Albert Williams: Quick-witted trade union leader
, ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'', 12 December 2007 Williams became known as a militant trade union activist, becoming a branch secretary and a regional delegate in quick succession, and was elected to the AUBTW's executive council in 1958. He was the union's youngest ever executive council member, and this despite the union's right-wing leadership. In 1959, Williams was elected to the national executive of the CPGB, serving on it for three years before standing down. This was perhaps in order to distance himself from allegations that CPGB members in the Electrical Trades Union had engaged in ballot rigging. He remained on the executive of the AUBTW and its successors, through a series of mergers which formed the

Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians The Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians (UCATT) was a British and Irish trade union, operating in the construction industry. It was founded in 1971, and merged into Unite on 1 January 2017. It was affiliated to the Trades U ...

(UCATT), and was prominent in the national strike of 1972 which led to the jailing of the Shrewsbury Two. With the union's leadership keen to distance themselves from the case, Williams was permitted to lead the union's fundraising efforts for the two. By the late 1970s, Williams was the National President of UCATT. In 1977, he resigned from the CPGB, joining the Labour Party, in which he immediately became known as a member of the right-wing. In 1984, Williams was elected as the General Secretary of UCATT. While he had always opposed the unionisation of the "lump" - self-employed labourers - he changed his mind, and narrowly persuade the union to adopt this policy in 1990. His next campaign was to arrange a merger of the union into the

Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union The Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union, known as the EETPU, was a British trade union formed in 1968 as a union for electricians and plumbers, which went through three mergers from 1992 to now be part of Unite the Un ...

(EETPU). However, the EETPU had been expelled from the

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions in England and Wales, representing the majority of trade unions. There are 48 affiliated unions, with a total of about 5.5 million members. Frances ...

(TUC) for poaching members of other unions, and the majority of UCATT's own executive opposed the merger. In 1991, the union suspended Williams on full pay; three organisers left in protest to join the EETPU, but fourteen said that they would join the TUC-affiliated

GMB Union The GMB is a general trade union in the United Kingdom which has more than 460,000 members. Its members work in nearly all industrial sectors, in retail, security, schools, distribution, the utilities, social care, the National Health Service (N ...

and seek to persuade a majority of members to follow them. The TUC undertook mediation, which resulted in the GMB withdrawing from efforts to split the union, and Williams' suspension being lifted."Building chief resumes", ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 13 June 1991 However, the merger with the EETPU was also abandoned, and Williams' position in the union greatly weakened. He retired the following year.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Albert 1927 births 2007 deaths British military personnel of World War II Communist Party of Great Britain members General secretaries of the Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians Members of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress Trade unionists from Stockport 20th-century British businesspeople