John Marchbank (19 January 1883 – 25 March 1946) 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 ...

. Born in Lambfoot in

Dumfriesshire Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries (''Siorrachd Dhùn Phris'' in Gaelic) is a historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the historic county. I ...

, Marchbank worked in his youth as an assistant to his father, who was a shepherd. He moved to work for the Caledonian Railway Company when he reached eighteen and, other than a short period in the

Dumfriesshire County Police Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries (''Siorrachd Dhùn Phris'' in Gaelic) is a historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the historic county. ...

, spent the remainder of his working life on railway matters."In Memoriam John Marchbank", ''International Transport Workers' Journal'', September 1946, p.8 In 1906, Marchbank joined the

Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants Amalgamation is the process of combining or uniting multiple entities into one form. Amalgamation, amalgam, and other derivatives may refer to: Mathematics and science * Amalgam (chemistry), the combination of mercury with another metal **Pan am ...

. This became part of the new

National Union of Railwaymen The National Union of Railwaymen was a trade union of railway workers in the United Kingdom. The largest railway workers' union in the country, it was influential in the national trade union movement. History The NUR was an industrial union ...

(NUR) in 1912, and Marchbank was elected to its executive committee. He served as the union's president from 1922 to 1924, the last year of which he also served on 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 ...

(TUC). In 1933, he was elected as general secretary of the NUR, and was also re-elected to the TUC General Council. He additionally served as vice-president of the

International Transport Workers' Federation The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) is a democratic global union federation of transport workers' trade unions, founded in 1896. In 2017 the ITF had 677 member organizations in 149 countries, representing a combined membership ...

from 1935.

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 ...

, ''Report of the 1946 Annual Trades Union Congress'', p.251 Marchbank retired from his posts at the NUR 1943, but was asked to remain in his international post until the first post-war conference of the federation. Ultimately, he died a few months before it was held, aged 63.

References

1883 births 1946 deaths General Secretaries of the National Union of Railwaymen Members of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress People from Dumfries and Galloway Presidents of the National Union of Railwaymen Scottish trade unionists {{UK-trade-unionist-bio-stub