William Henry Brett, Baron Brett (6 March 1942 – 29 March 2012)
was a British
Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
politician and trade unionist. He was previously the Labour Party's spokesperson (when Labour entered opposition) for International Development.
Born in
Heywood in
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
, the son of William and Mary Brett was educated in Radcliffe Technical College, in
Radcliffe
Radcliffe or Radcliff may refer to:
Places
* Radcliffe Line, a border between India and Pakistan
United Kingdom
* Radcliffe, Greater Manchester
** Radcliffe Tower, the remains of a medieval manor house in the town
** Radcliffe tram stop
* ...
, near
Bury
Bury may refer to:
*The burial of human remains
*-bury, a suffix in English placenames
Places England
* Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village
* Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire
** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...
. From 1958 to 1964, he worked for
British Railways
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
, from 1965 to 1967, he was administrative assistant for
Transport Salaried Staffs Association
The Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA) is a trade union for workers in the transport and travel industries in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Its head office is in London, and it has regional offices in Bristol, Derby, Dublin, Manche ...
, and from 1966 to 1968 North West organiser for
National Union of Bank Employees. Between 1968 and 1974, Brett was divisional officer for the
Association of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staffs
The Association of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staffs (ASTMS) was a British trade union which existed between 1969 and 1988.
History
The ASTMS was created in 1969 when ASSET (the Association of Supervisory Staffs, Executives and Techni ...
. For the
Institution of Professionals, Managers and Specialists
The Institution of Professionals, Managers and Specialists (IPMS) was a trade union representing managers and other people with professional qualifications in the United Kingdom, with a majority of members working in the civil service.
History
...
, he was Assistant General Secretary from 1980 to 1989 and
General Secretary
Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...
from 1989 to 1999.
Also from 1989 to 1999, he was a member of the
executive committee
A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...
for the
Public Services International
Public Services International (PSI) is the global union federation for workers in public services, including those who work in social services, health care, municipal services, central government and public utilities. , PSI has 700 affiliated ...
, and of the
General Council of the Trades Union Congress The General Council of the Trades Union Congress is an elected body which is responsible for carrying out the policies agreed at the annual British Trade Union Congresses (TUC).
Organisation
The council has 56 members, all of whom must be proposed ...
(TUC). Between 1992 and 2003, Brett was member, vice-chairman, chair of the worker group and chair of the Governing body of the
International Labour Office
The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and ol ...
(ILO) in
Geneva
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
. From 2004, he was director of the ILO in the United Kingdom and
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
, although the ILO office in London has recently closed down. He was further a member of the
(APEX) from 1960 to 1999. On 20 July 1999, he was made a
life peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...
with the title Baron Brett, ''of
Lydd
Lydd is a town and electoral ward in Kent, England, lying on Romney Marsh. It is one of the larger settlements on the marsh, and the most southerly town in Kent. Lydd reached the height of its prosperity during the 13th century, when it was a c ...
in the
County of Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces the ...
''.
Brett married firstly Jean Valerie Cooper in 1961. Divorced in 1986, he married secondly Janet Winters in 1994 divorced 2006. He had a son, Martin, and a daughter, Claire, and two grandchildren Lewis and Josh, and two daughters, Judith and Hannah by his second wife.
Lord Brett died on 29 March 2012 after a long illness.
Works
*''International Labour in the 21st Century'' (1994)
References
*
*
1942 births
Labour Party (UK) life peers
2012 deaths
British trade union leaders
Members of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress
People from Lydd
20th-century British businesspeople
Life peers created by Elizabeth II
{{Life-peer-stub