John Chalmers (16 May 1915 – 19 August 1983) was a Scottish

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 ...

Life

Born in

Clydebank Clydebank ( gd, Bruach Chluaidh) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Mil ...

, Chalmers studied at the Clydebank Secondary School before working as a plater. He joined the Boilermakers Society, and became a full-time official in 1954.CHALMERS, John
, ''

Who Was Who ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It is a book, and also a CD-ROM and a website, giving information on influential people from around the world. Published annually as a book since 1849, it lists people who influence British life, according to i ...

'' Long active in the Labour Party, he spent ten years on Clydebank Town Council."Former shipyard leader dies at 68", ''

Glasgow Herald ''The Herald'' is a Scottish broadsheet newspaper founded in 1783. ''The Herald'' is the longest running national newspaper in the world and is the eighth oldest daily paper in the world. The title was simplified from ''The Glasgow Herald'' in ...

'', 29 August 1983, p.3 Chalmers became Assistant General Secretary of the Boilermakers in 1961 and, in 1967, he became General Secretary of the union, now known as the "Amalgamated Society of Boilermakers, Shipwrights, Blacksmiths and Structural Workers", while fellow Clydebanker

Danny McGarvey Sir Daniel McGarvey, Order of the British Empire, CBE (16 September 1919 – 26 April 1977) was a British people, British trade unionist. McGarvey was born in Clydebank and attended Our Holy Redeemer School, then Our Lady & St Patrick's Hig ...

became President. That year, he also joined the

National Executive Committee National Executive Committee is the name of a leadership body in several organizations, mostly political parties: * National Executive Committee of the African National Congress, in South Africa * Australian Labor Party National Executive * Nationa ...

of the Labour Party, and he was chairman of the party in 1976/77. McGarvey died suddenly in 1977, and Chalmers took McGarvey's place on the General Council of 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 ...

(TUC).John Kerr, "Sir Daniel McGarvey - 'boots' to union boss", ''

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'', 27 April 1977, p. 3 Chalmers also served on the

Central Arbitration Committee The Central Arbitration Committee is a UK government body, whose task is to oversee the regulation of UK labour law as it relates to trade union recognition and collective bargaining. Chairs * Michael Burton *Former deputy chair, PL Davies See a ...

from 1976. In 1978, he was made a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

. He stood down from his trade union posts in 1980, but served on the Press Council from 1978 until 1981.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chalmers, John 1915 births 1983 deaths Chairs of the Labour Party (UK) Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Scottish Labour councillors General Secretaries of the Amalgamated Society of Boilermakers Members of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress People from Clydebank