Agnes McLean (4 December 1918 – 25 April 1994) was a Scottish

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 Employee ben ...

and politician. Born in the Ibrox area of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

,Agnes McLean
, '' The Herald'', 27 April 1994 McLean's family were committed socialists and supporters of John Maclean, her father being a member of the Scottish Workers' Republican Party, and she attended a

Socialist Sunday School Socialist Sunday Schools (SSS) were set up to replace or augment Christian Sunday Schools in the United Kingdom, and later the United States. They arose in response to the perceived inadequacy of orthodox Sunday schools as a training ground fo ...

.Ed. Rose Pipes et al, ''The Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women'', pp.236-237The Legacy of Agnes McLean
, ''

Workers' Liberty The Alliance for Workers' Liberty (AWL), also known as Workers' Liberty, is a Trotskyism, Trotskyist group in Britain and Australia, which has been identified with the theorist Sean Matgamna throughout its history. It publishes the newspaper ''So ...

'', 2 May 2012 McLean began working at the age of fourteen, when she became a bookbinder at Collins publishing house. A union activist from the start, after working procedures were changed to speed up production, she successfully argued for the bookbinders to receive a raise. In 1939, she moved to work for

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

in Hillington as a crane driver, and joined the

Amalgamated Engineering Union The Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU) was a major United Kingdom, British trade union. It merged with the Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union to form the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union in 1992. History ...

(AEU). There, she campaigned for equal pay, leading a short strike in 1941, and a successful one in 1943. McLean joined the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPG ...

(CPGB) in 1942, coming to serve on its Scottish Committee and, later, on its National Committee. In 1954, she was elected to the executive of the AEU, the first woman to serve on the committee. She visited the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

in 1961 and said she was impressed. At this time, she was active in the peace movement, and was arrested at a sit-in protest at the Holy Loch Polaris base. She also travelled as a representative of the

World Federation of Trade Unions The World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) is an international federation of trade unions established in 1945. Founded in the immediate aftermath of World War Two, the organization built on the pre-war legacy of the International Federation of ...

, and was awarded the Gold Badge of the

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre A national trade union center (or national center or central) is a federation or confederation of trade unions in a country. Nearly every country in the world has a national tra ...

. In 1969, McLean resigned from the CPGB, stating that "I felt the party was unable to convince people that they, the CP, were the party of the future, in spite of splendid work on behalf of workers in factories or unions". She soon joined the Labour Party and was elected for the party to Glasgow District Council. Following local government reorganisation, she became a councillor on

Strathclyde Regional Council Strathclyde ( in Gaelic, meaning "strath (valley) of the River Clyde") was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government etc. ...

, representing the Glasgow Central and Calton ward. By the late 1970s, her mother was in poor health, and she left paid employment to look after her full-time, devoting much of her spare time to

ballroom dancing Ballroom dance is a set of partner dances, which are enjoyed both socially and competitively around the world, mostly because of its performance and entertainment aspects. Ballroom dancing is also widely enjoyed on stage, film, and television. ...

. She also sat on several management committees, including those of Blindcraft Scotland,

Scottish Opera Scottish Opera is the national opera company of Scotland, and one of the five national performing arts companies of Scotland. Founded in 1962 and based in Glasgow, it is the largest performing arts organisation in Scotland. History Scottish Op ...

, and the

Theatre Royal, Glasgow The Theatre Royal is the oldest theatre in Glasgow and the longest running in Scotland. Located at 282 Hope Street, its front door was originally round the corner in Cowcaddens Street. It currently accommodates 1,541 people and is owned by Scotti ...

. McLean visited

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

in 1993 to research the history of the

rumba The term rumba may refer to a variety of unrelated music styles. Originally, "rumba" was used as a synonym for "party" in northern Cuba, and by the late 19th century it was used to denote the complex of secular music styles known as Cuban rumba ...

dance, this trip being made into a television programme, "In Cuba They're Still Dancing".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McLean, Agnes 1918 births 1994 deaths Communist Party of Great Britain members Trade unionists from Glasgow Scottish socialists Scottish communists Scottish Labour councillors Scottish television presenters Scottish women television presenters Women councillors in Glasgow