Alan Tuffin (2 August 1933 – 10 November 2017) 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 union 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 ( ...

leader. Tuffin attended Eltham Secondary School, leaving at age 16 to work for the

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

. He became active in the

Union of Communication Workers The Union of Communication Workers (UCW) was a trade union in the United Kingdom for workers in the post office and telecommunications industries. History The union was founded in 1919 as the Union of Post Office Workers (UPW) by the merger ...

, as its London Union Regional Official in 1957, then taking a full-time post as National Official in 1969, and becoming Deputy General Secretary ten years later. In 1982, he was elected as General Secretary of the union. He and his wife, Jean Elizabeth, married in 1957; and had one son and one daughter.TUFFIN, Alan David
, ''

Who's Who ''Who's Who'' (or ''Who is Who'') is the title of a number of reference publications, generally containing concise biography, biographical information on the prominent people of a country. The title has been adopted as an expression meaning a gr ...

'' From 1982 until his retirement in 1993, Tuffin served on the General Council 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 ...

(TUC), winning election as President of the TUC (1992–93). In 1993, he was made a Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE). In retirement, he served on the

Employment Appeal Tribunal The Employment Appeal Tribunal is a tribunal in England and Wales and Scotland, and is a superior court of record. Its primary role is to hear appeals from Employment Tribunals in England, Scotland and Wales. It also hears appeals from decisions o ...

, and as a director of

Remploy Remploy is an organisation in the United Kingdom which provides employment placement services for disabled people. It is a major welfare-to-work provider, delivering a range of contracts and employment programmes, for people with substantial barr ...

References

1933 births 2017 deaths Commanders of the Order of the British Empire General Secretaries of the Union of Communication Workers Members of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress People from Eltham Presidents of the Trades Union Congress British postmen Place of birth missing 20th-century British businesspeople {{UK-trade-unionist-bio-stub