Leslie Walter Wood (27 November 1920 – 11 October 2010) 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 ...

. Wood was educated at Birmingham Central Technical College before becoming an apprentice carpenter in 1935. He served in the

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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 ...

. After the war, he returned to carpentry, working for

Cadbury's Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company fully owned by Mondelez International (originally Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second largest confectionery brand in the world after Mars ...

Bournville Bournville () is a model village on the southwest side of Birmingham, England, founded by the Quaker Cadbury family for employees at its Cadbury's factory, and designed to be a "garden" (or "model") village where the sale of alcohol was forbidd ...

. He became active in the

Amalgamated Society of Woodworkers The Amalgamated Society of Woodworkers (ASW) was a British trade union representing carpenters, joiners and allied trades. The ASW was formed in 1921 by the amalgamation of two smaller unions. It was itself merged into the Union of Constructio ...

(ASW), who sponsored his study at

Ruskin College Ruskin College, originally known as Ruskin Hall, Oxford, is an independent educational institution in Oxford, England. It is not a college of Oxford University. It is named after the essayist, art and social critic John Ruskin (1819–1900) an ...

and, from 1953, he worked full-time for the union.WOOD, Leslie Walter
, ''

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'' In 1962, Wood was elected as assistant general secretary of the ASW, and he remained in post as it underwent successive mergers to become the

Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians The Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians (UCATT) was a British and Irish trade union, operating in the construction industry. It was founded in 1971, and merged into Unite on 1 January 2017. It was affiliated to the Trades Un ...

(UCATT). In 1978, he was elected as general secretary of UCATT, serving until his retirement in 1985. He joined 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 ...

in 1979, and

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in 1980. He wrote a history of trade unionism in the building trades, ''A Union to Build'', which was published in 1979.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Les 1920 births 2010 deaths Alumni of Ruskin College General secretaries of the Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians Members of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Air Force airmen