Gerard Doherty (1953 – 3 September 2023) was 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 ...

. Based in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Doherty worked for

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

, and joined the

Transport Salaried Staffs' Association The Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA) is a trade union for workers in the transport and travel industries in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Its head office is in London, and it has regional offices in Bristol, Derby, Dublin, Manche ...

(TSSA) in 1972. He soon became chairman of his branch of the union, and then became secretary of its Glasgow and West of Scotland Political Advisory Council. In 1988, he was elected to the union's executive committee, and then in 1991 he began working full-time for the union as its Irish secretary. In 1995, Doherty returned to the UK as a divisional secretary for the union, working at its headquarters in London. He was elected as general secretary of the TSSA in 2004, pledging to keep it affiliated to the Labour Party and use those links to campaign on the ownership and integration of railways in the UK. He was also 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 ...

. Under Doherty's leadership, the TSSA entered into merger talks with the

National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (commonly known as the RMT) is a British trade union covering the transport sector. Its current President is Alex Gordon and its current General Secretary is Mick Lynch. The RMT is on ...

, and Doherty took early retirement in 2011 in the hope of facilitating these. In retirement, Doherty served as a director of South Central Youth, a charity aiming to dissuade young people in South London from joining gangs. In 2018, he was appointed a trustee of the Railways Pension Scheme, on the nomination of the TSSA. Gerry Doherty died on 3 September 2023, at the age of 70.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doherty, Gerry 1953 births 2023 deaths General Secretaries of the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association Members of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress Trade unionists from Glasgow