Derek Simpson (born 23 December 1944) is a British

trade unionist 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 Employee ben ...

who was the Joint-

General Secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

of the UK's biggest private-sector trade union,

Unite Unite may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Albums * ''Unite'' (A Friend in London album), 2013 album by Danish band A Friend in London * ''Unite'' (Kool & the Gang album), 1993 * ''Unite'' (The O.C. Supertones album), 2005 Songs ...

, from 2007 until 2010. He was previously the General Secretary of Amicus from 2002 until its merger with the

Transport and General Workers' Union The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU or T&G) was one of the largest general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland – where it was known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union (ATGWU) to differentiate its ...

to form Unite in 2007.

Early life

Derek Simpson was born and educated in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

. He was an only child with an absent father. He attended

Sheffield Central Technical School The former Sheffield Central Technical School (CTS) was housed in the collection of buildings now called Leopold Square in the city centre of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The complex of buildings home to the school is bounded by Leopo ...

technical school In the United States, a technical school is a type of two-year college that covers specialized fields such as business, finance, hospitality, tourism, construction, engineering, visual arts, information technology and community work. Associa ...

, which transferred to the Ashleigh School in

Gleadless Gleadless is a suburb and parish A Church Near You.
Parish Map. within the City of

and was then demolished having merged to become Myrtle Springs School which is now

Sheffield Springs Academy Sheffield Springs Academy is an 11-16 secondary school serving the Park, Manor and Castle wards of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The academy is part of United Learning, a national group of schools whose motto is "''the best in everyone'' ...

). In 1987 he received an

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

in Computing and Mathematics. He was appointed an honorary fellow of

Sheffield Hallam University Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) is a public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The university is based on two sites; the City Campus is located in the city centre near Sheffield railway station, while the Collegiate Cr ...

in 1999.

Career

From 1960 to 1966 he worked for Firth Brown Tools, then Balfour Darwin from 1966 to 1981, then working full-time as a union official.

AEU

He joined the Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU) on becoming an apprentice at the age of 15. He became an AEU

shop steward A union representative, union steward, or shop steward is an employee of an organization or company who represents and defends the interests of their fellow employees as a labor union member and official. Rank-and-file members of the union hold ...

at Balfour Darwin in 1967 and held a number of increasingly senior union positions in workplaces where he was employed, learning his politics in what described as " the socialist republic of South Yorkshire". In 1981 he became a full-time union official, becoming the AEU's District Secretary for Sheffield. He was still working for the union in that city when he stood for the position of Joint General Secretary in 2002.

General Secretary of Amicus

Simpson was the surprise winner of the June 2002 election for the position of Joint General Secretary of the

AEEU The Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union (AEEU) was a British trade union. It merged with the MSF to form Amicus in 2001. History The union was founded in 1992, when the Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU) finally achieved a merger w ...

Section of Amicus. He beat

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

's 'favourite trade unionist' – Sir Ken Jackson. He assumed the position of General Secretary in May 2004 following the departure of the MSF Section's JGS,

Roger Lyons Roger Lyons (born 14 September 1942) was the General Secretary of the MSF trade union from 1992 and re-elected leader of the union in 1997. When the union merged with the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union to form Amicus in 2002 he sub ...

. In the above election, Simpson was seen as the left candidate, and was backed by the

broad left The Broad Left was a political faction within the National Union of Students of the United Kingdom (NUS) during the 1970s. It consisted of a working relationship between the Labour Party, the Liberal Party, Plaid Cymru, the Communist Party of ...

in the

, now known as

Amicus Unity Gazette Unity Gazette is a broad left caucus group in the Amicus trade union in the United Kingdom. It includes activists from the former Manufacturing, Science and Finance (MSF) and Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union (AEEU) trade unions which ...

. During this election campaign he appeared at fringe meetings of the Amicus MSF section conference in

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, defying an instruction from Jackson not to attend. He was still identified with the Unity Gazette and appeared at their national meetings until 2008, when he helped launch a rival "Workers Uniting Group". Simpson has repeatedly denied press claims, that he was part of the " Awkward Squad" of trade union leaders opposed to

New Labour New Labour was a period in the history of the British Labour Party from the mid to late 1990s until 2010 under the leadership of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. The name dates from a conference slogan first used by the party in 1994, later seen ...

policies, that they perceive to be against the interests of working people. Simpson stated that he is not in the awkward squad: "I get named as such, but it's astonishing that nobody's able to back that up with any fact". Since becoming General Secretary, he has been supportive of the links between Amicus and the Labour Party. A member of the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPG ...

until its disbanding in 1991, he joined the Labour Party in 1994. He was involved in the negotiation that let to the 2004 Warwick Agreement, in which the Labour Party agreed to implement some of the trade unions' policies during their third term. He favoured the early departure of

as Labour Party Leader and Prime Minister.

Joint General Secretary of Unite

On 9 October 2008, the Executive Council of Unite decided that there would be an election for the General Secretary (Amicus section), with a timetable of January/February 2009 for the election, the results to be announced in March 2009. This election was for a fixed term until December 2010. The Executive council also postponed the merger of the union and adoption of the new rule book until May 2009. In May 2010, during confidential negotiations with

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under the chairmanship of conciliation service

Acas The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) is a Crown non-departmental public body of the Government of the United Kingdom. Its purpose is to improve organisations and working life through the promotion and facilitation of strong ...

to resolve an ongoing dispute, Simpson was found to be using his

BlackBerry The blackberry is an edible fruit produced by many species in the genus ''Rubus'' in the family Rosaceae, hybrids among these species within the subgenus ''Rubus'', and hybrids between the subgenera ''Rubus'' and ''Idaeobatus''. The taxonomy of ...

to update his

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account with progress of the confidential negotiations.

Personal life

Simpson met his first wife Freda when working at a

greyhound track Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around a track. There are two forms of greyhound racing, track racing (normally around an oval track) and coursing; the latter is now banned in most countries. Tra ...

, parading the dogs and setting the

trap A trap is a mechanical device used to capture or restrain an animal for purposes such as hunting, pest control, or ecological research. Trap or TRAP may also refer to: Art and entertainment Films and television * ''Trap'' (2015 film), Fil ...

s. They married on 23 December 1967 in Sheffield. They divorced in 1974, and in 1976 Simpson married Linda Gilliver; they have two sons (born 1980 and September 1986) and a daughter (born 1982). Simpson then divorced Linda, and remarried Freda, who has two sons (born 1979 and August 1984) and a daughter (born 1977) from her previous marriage.

References

External links

A message from Unite's joint general secretaries
Unite
Key players in union movement
BBC News, 5 September 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Derek 1944 births Living people Trade unionists from Sheffield Alumni of the Open University Communist Party of Great Britain members General Secretaries of Amicus General Secretaries of Unite the Union Members of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress Unite the Union