George Herbert Elvin (1907 – 3 February 1984) 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. The son of

Herbert Henry Elvin Herbert Henry Elvin (18 July 1874 – 10 November 1949) was a British people, British trade unionist. Born in Eckington, Derbyshire, Elvin left school at the age of 14,''Report of the 49th Annual Conference'', Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, p.3 ...

, general secretary of the

National Union of Clerks The Association of Professional, Executive, Clerical and Computer Staff (APEX) was a British trade union which represented clerical and administrative employees. History The Clerks Union was formed in 1890 and later was renamed as the National ...

, and brother of Lionel Elvin, who became a prominent educationalist, George devoted his youth to political activism."Obituary: Mr George Elvin", ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', 16 February 1984 In 1930, he became the first secretary of the National Workers' Sports Association. This organisation, set up by the Labour Party and

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 ...

, was a rival to the communist-led British Workers' Sports Federation and principally organised international competition for workers' sports teams, including sending teams to the

International Workers' Olympiads International Workers' Olympiads were an international sporting event arranged between 1925 and 1937 by Socialist Workers' Sport International (SASI). It was an organisation supported by social democratic parties and International Federation of Tra ...

. Through this, Elvin was a leading opponent of holding the 1936 Olympic Games in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. In 1934, Lionel suggested to George that he become involved in the

Association of Cine-Technicians The Association of Cinematograph, Television and Allied Technicians (ACTT) was a trade union in the United Kingdom which existed between 1933 and 1991. History The union was founded by technicians at the Gaumont British Studios in 1933 as th ...

. This had been founded the previous year but was struggling; it had only 88 members, few of whom had paid subscriptions, and was in financial difficulties. Elvin was appointed as its general secretary and immediately established a union journal, and an employment exchange to help members find work. This enabled him to recruit many more members; within a year of his appointment, the union had more than 600 members and its finances were sound. On the outbreak of

World War II 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 ...

, the British Government decided that film production should halt. Elvin successfully argued that it should continue in order to boost morale. After the war, he led in the union in campaigning for the establishment of the

National Film School The National Film and Television School (NFTS) is a film, television and games school established in 1971 and based at Beaconsfield Studios in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England. It is featured in the 2021 ranking by ''The Hollywood Repo ...

and the

National Film Finance Corporation The National Film Finance Corporation (NFFC) was a film funding agency in the United Kingdom in operation from 1949 until 1985. The NFFC was established by the Cinematograph Film Production (Special Loans) Act 1949, and further enhanced by the Ci ...

. The union expanded its remit, becoming the "Association of Cinematograph, Television and Allied Technicians", and by 1969, membership was more than 16,000. Its prominence was such that, when the

Federation of Entertainment Unions The Federation of Entertainment Unions (FEU) is a joint representative body based in the United Kingdom, representing workers in TV, theatre, film, music, gaming, cinema, publishing, new media, professional football and other performing arts. The ...

was established in 1968, Elvin was appointed as its first secretary."Entertainment unions form confederation", ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 6 September 1968 Elvin was also active in the Labour Party. He stood unsuccessfully for the party in

Weston-super-Mare Weston-super-Mare, also known simply as Weston, is a seaside town in North Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. It includes the suburbs of Mead Vale, Milton, Oldmixon ...

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, ...

Kingston-upon-Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which nuclear weapons have been used in combat. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. Januar ...

, and

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

in the

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

and

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

. He did succeed in gaining election as a councillor in

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...

. Elvin stood down as general secretary of the union in 1969, becoming its president until his final retirement in 1974. He remained on Southend council for many years, and was leader of the Labour group there as late as 1982."Why Tories may clean up in Southend", ''

'', 20 April 1982

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elvin, George 1907 births 1984 deaths Councillors in Essex Labour Party (UK) councillors Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates British trade union leaders