William Henry Potts Whatley
OBE (16 December 1922 – 4 September 1997) 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.
Early life
Whatley attended
Gosforth Secondary School before briefly becoming a clerk with the
Co-operative Wholesale Society
A co-operative wholesale society, or CWS, is a form of co-operative federation (that is, a co-operative in which all the members are co-operatives), in this case, the members are usually consumer cooperatives. According to co-operative economi ...
. The following year,
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 opposin ...
broke out, and Whatley served with the
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
.
["Whatley served as a pilot in Bomber Command, and rose to the rank of SquadronLead]
Whatley, William Henry Potts
, ''Who Was Who
''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It is a book, and also a CD-ROM and a website, giving information on influential people from around the world. Published annually as a book since 1849, it lists people who influence British life, according to i ...
''
After the war, Whatley joined the
Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers
The Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw) is a trade union in the United Kingdom, consisting of around 360,000 members. Usdaw members work in a variety of occupations and industries including: shopworkers, factory and warehouse wo ...
(USDAW), becoming a full-time area organiser in
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
in 1948. He was promoted to National Officer in 1966 and Chief Organising Officer in 1976, becoming third most senior official in the union.
["Contenders for USDAW job", '']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 ...
'', 27 February 1979
In 1979, USDAW's general secretary,
Alf Allen, stood down, and Whatley defeated John Dilks to succeed Allen.
As general secretary, he also served on 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), and on the TUC's Economic Committee. He retired in 1985, and was made an
Officer 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 o ...
the following year.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whatley, Bill
1922 births
1997 deaths
General Secretaries of the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers
Members of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress
Officers of the Order of the British Empire
People educated at Gosforth Academy
People from Gosforth
Royal Air Force personnel of World War II