John William Slater (3 May 1920 – 24 April 1974) 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 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 ...

. He 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 ...

and has been memorialised by a fund set up in his name. Slater was born in

Shetland Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the no ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, and joined the Merchant Navy and the

National Union of Seamen The National Union of Seamen (NUS) was the principal trade union of merchant seafarers in the United Kingdom from the late 1880s to 1990. In 1990, the union amalgamated with the National Union of Railwaymen to form the National Union of Rail, ...

, serving during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In 1943, he obtained a

master mariner A master mariner is a licensed mariner who holds the highest grade of seafarer qualification; namely, an unlimited master's license. Such a license is labelled ''unlimited'' because it has no limits on the tonnage, power, or geographic location of ...

's certificate and became a navigating officer, transferring to the

Merchant Navy and Airline Officers' Association {{Infobox union , name = Merchant Navy and Airline Officers' Association , image = , founded = 1956 , predecessor = , successor = , dissolved = 1985 , merged = National Union of Marine, Aviation and Shipp ...

(MNAOA). He began working full-time for the union as its London officer in 1954, then served consecutively as its national secretary and assistant general secretary. In 1971, Slater was elected as General Secretary of the MNAOA. This led him to greater international prominence, serving with 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 ...

and attended conferences of the

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and o ...

. In 1972, he was elected to the General Council of the Trades Union Congress, and he also chaired the employee side of the

National Maritime Board :''This is about the Maritime Board in the United Kingdom. For the Board in the Philippines, see National Seamen Board.'' The National Maritime Board (NMB) was a bilateral board governing wages and working practices in the British shipping industr ...

. Slater suffered an accident in his London office in April 1974, and died as a result of the injuries he received. Three years later, the MNAOA set up the J. W. Slater Fund, to support ratings in the Merchant Navy who wished to qualify as master mariners, as Slater had done.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Slater, John 1920 births 1974 deaths British Merchant Navy officers British trade union leaders Members of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress People from Shetland British Merchant Navy personnel of World War II Accidental deaths in England