Robert Taylor (30 October 1900 – 1986) was a Scottish trade union leader. Taylor was born in West Benhar, near

Bathgate Bathgate ( sco, Bathket or , gd, Both Chèit) is a town in West Lothian, Scotland, west of Livingston, Scotland, Livingston and adjacent to the M8 motorway (Scotland), M8 motorway. Nearby towns are Armadale, West Lothian, Armadale, Blackburn, ...

Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark ( gd, Siorrachd Lannraig; sco, Lanrikshire), is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the central Lowlands of Scotland. Lanarkshire is the most populous county in Scotl ...

, and was one of twenty-two children. He became a miner in an oil and shale mine and began taking qualifications to become a manager. When he was seventeen, he joined the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...

, and became chair of the local branch three years later. Taylor married in 1921 but, on return from honeymoon, his wages were halved. He decided to re-train as a driver, and became a van driver for the Bathgate Co-operative Society. In 1923, he stood unsuccessfully for Bathgate Council. Taylor became active in the

Scottish Horse and Motormen's Association The Scottish Commercial Motormen's Union was a trade union in the United Kingdom. It merged with the Transport and General Workers' Union in 1971. History The union was founded in 1898 as the Scottish Carters' Association. Hugh Lyon was appoint ...

(SHMA), and in 1925 became a full-time organiser for the union. He also performed much of the role of the union's chief clerk, and was minutes secretary to the Glasgow branch. He was also elected to the executive of the

Glasgow Trades Council {{Use British English, date=January 2018 Glasgow Trades Council is an association of trade union branches in Glasgow in Scotland. The trades council was founded in 1858 as the Glasgow United Trades Council.Archives Hub,Records of Glasgow District ...

, becoming vice-president to

Thomas Scollan Thomas Scollan (1884 – 28 October 1974) was a Scottish trade unionist and Labour Party politician. Scollan was an engineer, and an organiser for the National Union of Distributive Workers. He was President of the Scottish Trades Union Congress ...

. Scollan rarely attended trades council meetings, so Taylor played a key role in the organisation. In April 1936, general secretary of the SHMA Hugh Lyon was dismissed. Taylor stood in the ensuing election, defeating interim general secretary Peter Webster by 3645 votes to 2256 in November, and became leader of the union. He pledged to engage with the Joint Industrial Council negotiating frameworks, and to consider amalgamation with other unions. From 1935, he served on the executive of the

Scottish Trades Union Congress The Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) is the national trade union centre in Scotland. With 40 affiliated unions as of 2020, the STUC represents over 540,000 trade unionists. The STUC is a separate organisation from the English and Welsh T ...

(STUC), and he was President of the STUC in 1938/39. Taylor announced his resignation as leader of the SHMA in September 1943, to become president of the Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Society offering three months’ notice. Although James White Jr of the Glasgow branch argued that he could not fulfil both roles, and should be asked to leave immediately, he was instead asked to remain until the end of the year, once a successor had been appointed. As President of the SCWS, Taylor fell into disputes with his former union. He retired in 1965, due to poor health.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Robert 1900 births 1986 deaths People from Bathgate General secretaries of British trade unions Scottish trade unionists