Charles H. Ford (29 November 1923 – 12 March 2000) 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 leader. Born in Hackney, Ford studied at the

Central School of Arts and Crafts The Central School of Art and Design was a public school of fine and applied arts in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1896 by the London County Council as the Central School of Arts and Cr ...

. He became an engraver at the

Royal Mint The Royal Mint is the United Kingdom's oldest company and the official maker of British coins. Operating under the legal name The Royal Mint Limited, it is a limited company that is wholly owned by His Majesty's Treasury and is under an exclus ...

, but soon left due to poor eyesight, and in 1940 began working for the

Czechoslovak government-in-exile The Czechoslovak government-in-exile, sometimes styled officially as the Provisional Government of Czechoslovakia ( cz, Prozatímní vláda Československa, sk, Dočasná vláda Československa), was an informal title conferred upon the Czechos ...

, then after the war worked in

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

. He developed an interest in economics, and studied at the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

, then found work as an economist for 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 ...

. He also joined the Labour Party, and stood unsuccessfully for it at the

1951 UK general election The 1951 United Kingdom general election was held twenty months after the 1950 general election, which the Labour Party had won with a slim majority of just five seats. The Labour government called a snap election for Thursday 25 October 1951 ...

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

, and then at the

1955 UK general election The 1955 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 26 May 1955, four years after the previous general election in 1951. It was a snap election: after Winston Churchill retired in April 1955, Anthony Eden took over and immediately ca ...

in Bournemouth West, without success. In 1957, Ford moved to Paris to work for the trade union liaison council for the

Marshall Plan The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred over $13 billion (equivalent of about $ in ) in economic re ...

, which he helped transform into the

Trade Union Advisory Committee The Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC) is the interface of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) with organized labour. TUAC has 59 affiliated trade union centres in 31 OECD countries, representing more ...

(TUAC). He promoted the role of the

International Labour Organization 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 o ...

in regulating international companies, and invented the phrase "

social clause Within the context of international trade, a social clause is the integration of sustainability standards, such as the core ILO labour rights conventions into trade agreements. During the World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference of 1996, i ...

". In 1966, he was elected as general secretary of TUAC, serving until 1971, and he also became the acting general secretary of the ICFTU European Regional Organisation until its dissolution in 1969. In 1971, he moved to become general secretary of the

International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers' Federation The International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers' Federation (ITGLWF) was a global union federation. In 2005 it had 217 member organizations in 110 countries, representing a combined membership of over 10 million workers. History The ITGLW ...

, in which role he helped build unions around the world, and doubled the federation's membership. He retired in 1988.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Charles 1923 births 2000 deaths Alumni of the Central School of Art and Design Alumni of the London School of Economics English trade unionists Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates People from Hackney, London