Charles Kean (16 February 1868''1939 England and Wales Register'' – 16 January 1944) 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. He brought together workers in the wallpaper industry in a single union. For many years, Kean was an active trade unionist, based in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. In 1908, he began representing the

Manchester and Salford Trades Council The Manchester Trades Union Council brings together trade union branches in Manchester in England. History Efforts to bring trade unionists together across Manchester go back to the eighteenth century. In 1818 the cotton spinners persuaded othe ...

on the Manchester Education Committee, and in later years he also served as the council's president. From 1909, Kean was leader of the small Amalgamated Union of Engravers to Calico Printers and Paper Stainers. In 1917, he founded the Wallpaper Stainers' Trade Union Federation, which also included the Amalgamated Society of Machine Paper Stainers and Colour Mixers of Great Britain and the Paper Stainers' Union of General Workers. Kean persuaded the two to join with those members of his union involved in the manufacture of wallpaper in forming a new Wallpaper Workers' Union. Kean decided to focus on the wallpaper industry, and resigned from the Engravers in 1920; he was elected as the first general secretary of the Wallpaper Workers' Union. Under his leadership, the union established the Wallpaper Makers' Industrial Council, which focused on negotiations with employers, and the avoidance of industrial action. He represented the union to the General Federation of Trade Unions, serving on its management council for twelve years, and as chair of the federation from 1930 to 1932. Kean retired as leader of the Wallpaper Workers' Union in 1935, becoming the superintendent of the Wallpaper Trade Convalescent and Holiday Home. He remained active on the Manchester Education Committee until shortly before his death, early in 1944.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kean, Charles 1868 births 1944 deaths General secretaries of British trade unions Presidents of the General Federation of Trade Unions (UK) Trade unionists from Manchester