Clement James Bundock (20 January 1892 – 8 August 1961) 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, newspaper editor and political activist. Born in

Wood Green Wood Green is a suburban district in the borough of Haringey in London, England. Its postal district is N22, with parts in N8 or N15. The London Plan identifies it as one of the metropolitan centres in Greater London, and today it forms a maj ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, Bundock trained as a journalist with the ''Christian Commonwealth''. He then moved to

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 ...

to work for the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...

's (ILP) ''

Labour Leader The ''Labour Leader'' was a British socialist newspaper published for almost one hundred years. It was later renamed ''New Leader'' and ''Socialist Leader'', before finally taking the name ''Labour Leader'' again. 19th century The origins of the ...

'' and joined the

National Union of Journalists The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) is a trade union for journalists in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was founded in 1907 and has 38,000 members. It is a member of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). Structure There i ...

(NUJ). A supporter of the ILP and particularly of

Fenner Brockway Archibald Fenner Brockway, Baron Brockway (1 November 1888 – 28 April 1988) was a British socialist politician, humanist campaigner and anti-war activist. Early life and career Brockway was born to W. G. Brockway and Frances Elizabeth Abbey in ...

, Bundock regularly spoke on behalf of the party, and during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

contributed to its pamphlet, "Why I Am A Conscientious Objector: Being Answer to the Tribunal Catechism". He spent some time in London as the paper's Parliamentary correspondent, before in 1919 becoming editor of the ''Leicester Pioneer''. From 1920 to 1922, Bundock served as the Midlands representative on the

National Administrative Council The National Administrative Council (NAC) was the executive council of the Independent Labour Party (ILP), a British socialist party which was active from 1893 until 1975. Creation The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was founded at a conference in ...

of the ILP. Through the ILP, Bundock was active in the Labour Party, chairing the Leicester Labour Party in 1922, and standing unsuccessfully in Bosworth at the

1922 United Kingdom general election The 1922 United Kingdom general election was held on Wednesday 15 November 1922. It was won by the Conservative Party, led by Bonar Law, which gained an overall majority over the Labour Party, led by J. R. Clynes, and a divided Liberal Party. ...

. In 1923, he was appointed as full-time National Organiser of the NUJ, a controversial appointment on account of his socialist and pacifist views. He proved immediately successful in the role, particularly in negotiations with employers. During the

UK general strike The 1926 general strike in the United Kingdom was a general strike that lasted nine days, from 4 to 12 May 1926. It was called by the General Council of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in an unsuccessful attempt to force the British governme ...

, he tried to get the

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre A national trade union center (or national center or central) is a federation or confederation of trade unions in a country. Nearly every country in the world has a national tra ...

paper, the ''

British Worker The ''British Worker'' was a newspaper produced by the General Council of the Trades Union Congress for the duration of the 1926 United Kingdom General Strike. The first of eleven issues was printed on 5 May and publication stopped on 17 May after ...

'', printed in Leicester, but was overruled by the union, which felt that journalists should not undertake any work during the action. Bundock was elected as general secretary of the NUJ in 1937, holding the post until 1952. That year, the

International Federation of Journalists The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is the largest global union federation of journalists' trade unions in the world. It represents more than 600,000 media workers from 187 organisations in 146 countries. The IFJ is an associate ...

was re-established, and Bundock became its president. In retirement, he wrote a history of the NUJ, and also one of the

National Union of Printing, Bookbinding and Paper Workers The National Union of Printing, Bookbinding and Paper Workers (NUPBPW) was a British trade union. History The union was founded in 1921 as the National Union of Printing, Bookbinding, Machine Ruling and Paper Workers when the National Union o ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bundock, Clement 1892 births 1961 deaths English newspaper editors English male journalists Independent Labour Party National Administrative Committee members General Secretaries of the National Union of Journalists Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates People from Wood Green English conscientious objectors