Peter Potts (29 June 1935 – 30 January 1996) 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 ...

, who served as General Secretary of the General Federation of Trade Unions. Potts grew up in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, where he attended

Chorlton High School Chorlton High School is a coeducational secondary school with academy status, located in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester, England. It has around 1500 pupils and 300 in each year. History Grammar school There was a "Chorlton High School" in th ...

. He began working and joined the

Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers The Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw) is a trade union in the United Kingdom, consisting of around 360,000 members. Usdaw members work in a variety of occupations and industries including: shopworkers, factory and warehouse wo ...

in 1951. After undertaking

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...

with the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

from 1953 to 1955, he became increasingly involved in trade unionism, and in 1965 became the full-time research officer of the

National Union of Tailors and Garment Workers National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

(NUTGW). He also spent time studying 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 ...

. In 1974, Potts becoming NUTGW's national officer for clerical and supervisory staffs, and from 1975 he was involved in the Trade Union Research Unit, which he chaired from 1984. He was recruited by the General Federation of Trade Unions as its general secretary, taking over at the end of 1977. Alongside this post, he was also on the Trade Union Unit Trust Investors Committee, the governing council of Ruskin College, and from 1979, the Trade Union International Research and Education Group. From 1987 to 1990, he additionally served on the Press Council. Potts retired in 1994, but remained active as the chair of the Trade Union International Research and Education Group. He died early in 1996.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Potts, Peter 1935 births 1996 deaths Alumni of Ruskin College Trade unionists from Manchester General Secretaries of the General Federation of Trade Unions (UK) Royal Air Force airmen 20th-century Royal Air Force personnel