George Frederick Green (3 August 1908 – 7 October 1989) 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. Green was born in

London Borough of Camden The London Borough of Camden () is a London borough in Inner London. Camden Town Hall, on Euston Road, lies north of Charing Cross. The borough was established on 1 April 1965 from the area of the former boroughs of Hampstead, Holborn, and St ...

to George James Green and Florence Meta Emily Green. In the 1940s, Green the leading figure in the Socialist Vanguard Group, an organisation linked with the

Internationaler Sozialistischer Kampfbund The Internationaler Sozialistischer Kampfbund (, "International Socialist Militant League") or ISK was a socialist split-off from the SPD during the Weimar Republic and was active in the German Resistance against Nazism. History The ''Interna ...

, and also with the Society for the Furtherance of Critical Philosophy of

Leonard Nelson Leonard Nelson (; ; 11 July 1882 – 29 October 1927), sometimes spelt Leonhard, was a German mathematician, critical philosopher, and socialist. He was part of the neo-Friesian school (named after post-Kantian philosopher Jakob Friedrich Fr ...

.Peter Barberis et al, ''Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations'', p.293 By the late 1940s, the Vanguard Group was best known for its

anti-communism Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when the United States and the ...

, and it was influential on the right-wing of the Labour Party, publishing ''Socialist Commentary''. Green served for some years as the deputy general secretary of the Civil Service Clerical Association (CSCA). In 1955, the union's general secretary, Len White, died suddenly, and Green was appointed as his successor. As leader, he was known for his command of the complex pay scheme for civil servants, and he used his knowledge to obtain increases for union members - sometimes without the knowledge of the executive of his own union. In 1960, he was elected to the

General Council of the Trades Union Congress The General Council of the Trades Union Congress is an elected body which is responsible for carrying out the policies agreed at the annual British Trade Union Congresses (TUC). Organisation The council has 56 members, all of whom must be proposed ...

.James O'Dea, "A union character", ''

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'', 13 October 1989 As a civil servant, Green was due to retire at the age of 55 and, under union rules, would be forced to stand down. At the 1962 union conference, he claimed that the government's economic policy created special circumstances which required him to remain as leader. The delegates rejected this, and he retired as scheduled the following year.Peter Jenkins, "Mr Green must retire next year", ''

'', 6 June 1962

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Green, George 1908 births 1989 deaths General Secretaries of the Civil and Public Services Association Members of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress People from the London Borough of Camden