John Jackson (12 January 1919 – 20 April 1995) was a

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trade unionist, who became the leader of one of the country's print unions. Born in Camberwell, Jackson completed an apprenticeship as a printer on metal, with the

Amalgamated Press The Amalgamated Press (AP) was a British newspaper and magazine publishing company founded by journalist and entrepreneur Alfred Harmsworth (1865–1922) in 1901, gathering his many publishing ventures together under one banner. At one point the ...

. He joined the Society of Lithographic Artists, Designers, Engravers and Process Workers (SLADE) when he was seventeen, and devoted much of his time to the union. In 1940, Jackson joined the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

, becoming a gunner, and at one point was the youngest

Regimental Sergeant Major Regimental sergeant major (RSM) is an appointment that may be held by warrant officers class 1 (WO1) in the British Army, the British Royal Marines and in the armies of many other Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, including Australia ...

in the Army. He was demobbed in 1946, and returned to printing, and to SLADE. Jackson was elected as general secretary of SLADE in 1972, taking over a union with booming membership, but which he believed was threatened by technological change. Rather than attempting to resist the changes, he tried recruiting members in new areas, but ran into controversy as the union was accused of creating

closed shop A pre-entry closed shop (or simply closed shop) is a form of union security agreement under which the employer agrees to hire union members only, and employees must remain members of the union at all times to remain employed. This is different fr ...

s in businesses where workers would have preferred to join a different union. He changed direction, and opened merger negotiations with several other unions, including the

National Union of Journalists The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) is a trade union for journalists in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was founded in 1907 and has 38,000 members. It is a member of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). Structure There is ...

, but ultimately merged it into the

National Graphical Association The National Graphical Association (NGA) was a trade union representing typographers and related workers in the United Kingdom. History The union was formed in 1964 by the merger of two long-term rival unions, the Typographical Association and ...

(NGA). Following the merger, the NGA renamed itself as the "National Graphical Association '82", and appointed Jackson as joint general secretary. The next couple of years were difficult, leading up to the

Wapping dispute The Wapping dispute was a lengthy failed strike by print workers in London in 1986. Print unions tried to block distribution of ''The Sunday Times'', along with other newspapers in Rupert Murdoch's News International group, after production wa ...

, but Jackson retired in 1984, before it played out. In retirement, he volunteered for the

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, and the Family Court in

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, John 1919 births 1995 deaths British Army personnel of World War II General Secretaries of the National Graphical Association People from Camberwell