Charles Jarman (1893 – 30 May 1947) was a British

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. Born 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 ...

, Jarman went to sea when he was fourteen, and soon joined the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

. After several years, he left the Navy due to an injury. He became involved in the National Union of Seamen (NUS), becoming its national organiser, and then its district secretary, successively in the Bristol Channel, Mersey, North East Scotland and then Scottish districts. Next, he moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

as the union's representative in the United States."Obituary: Mr Charles Jarman", ''Annual Report of the 1947 Trades Union Congress'', p.308 Jarman succeeded as leader of the NUS in 1942. Due to the ongoing

Second World War 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 ...

, it was agreed that he would hold the title of acting general secretary until an election could be organised, planned for one year after the end of the war. He also joined the General Council of the Trades Union Congress, and was president of the Seamen's Section of the

International Transport Workers' Federation The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) is a democratic global union federation of transport workers' trade unions, founded in 1896. In 2017 the ITF had 677 member organizations in 149 countries, representing a combined membership ...

. Under Jarman's influence, in 1946, the

International Labour Conference 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 ...

adopted an international

minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Bec ...

for seafarers. Jarman was also active in the Labour Party, and served on its National Executive Committee for four years. At the

1935 United Kingdom general election The 1935 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 14 November 1935 and resulted in a large, albeit reduced, majority for the National Government now led by Stanley Baldwin of the Conservative Party. The greatest number of members, ...

, he stood unsuccessfully for the party in

Birmingham Yardley Birmingham Yardley is a constituency of part of the city of Birmingham represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Jess Phillips of the Labour Party. Yardley Rural District was annexed to Birmingham under the 1911 ...

. Labour Party, ''Report of the 46th Annual Conference'', p.36 Jarman died unexpectedly in 1947, aged 54.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jarman, Charles 1893 births 1947 deaths Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates British trade union leaders Members of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress Trade unionists from Bristol Royal Navy sailors