Tom S. Bavin (1909 – 11 August 1984) was a British trade union leader. Born in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

, Bavin worked in agriculture. When he was 17 he joined the

National Union of Agricultural Workers The National Union of Agricultural and Allied Workers (NUAW) was a trade union in the United Kingdom which existed between 1906 and 1982. It represented farmworkers. History The union was established as the Eastern Counties Agricultural Labou ...

, and was elected to its executive committee when he was only 24. In 1952, he was seconded to the

International Union of Food and Drink Workers The International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations (IUF) is a global union federation of trade unions with members in a variety of industries, many of which relate to food processin ...

, becoming its plantation representative, and helped build the new National Union of Plantation Workers in Malaysia. In 1957, Bavin was appointed as director of organisation for the new Plantation Workers International Federation, then in 1959 became general secretary of its successor, the International Federation of Plantation and Agricultural Workers. In 1976, he retired, but was elected as president of the federation, travelling widely in support of the union for the next six years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bavin, Tom 1909 births 1984 deaths British trade unionists Trade unionists from Lincolnshire