Walter Greendale (10 December 1930 – 12 September 2012) was a British

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 ...

and politician. Born in

Kingston-upon-Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-east o ...

, Greendale became a docker, and took evening classes with the

University of Hull The University of Hull is a public research university in Kingston upon Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1927 as University College Hull. The main university campus is located in Hull and is home to the Hull ...

. He joined the

Transport and General Workers' Union The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU or T&G) was one of the largest general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland – where it was known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union (ATGWU) to differentiate its ...

(TGWU), and sat on the unofficial Joint Shop Stewards' Committee, through which he became an ally of

Jack Jones Jack Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music *Jack Jones (American singer) (born 1938), American jazz and pop singer *Jack Jones, stage name of Australian singer Irwin Thomas (born 1971) *Jack Jones (Welsh musician) (born 1992), Welsh mu ...

.Walter Greendale: Trade unionist who successfully sued 'The Sun'
, ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 28 November 2012 In 1970, Greendale was elected to the National Executive of the TGWU, in which role he sought to help the union keep pace with industrial developments, such as

containerisation Containerization is a system of intermodal freight transport using intermodal containers (also called shipping containers and ISO containers). Containerization is also referred as "Container Stuffing" or "Container Loading", which is the pro ...

, expand the National Dock Labour Scheme to include all ports, and build solidarity with unions in other industrial sectors. In 1982, he was elected as chairman of the union. Greendale 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 ...

(TUC) from 1978 to 1986, one of the few members at the time not to hold a full-time union post. Despite this, he was able to represent the TUC on the

Health and Safety Executive The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is a UK government agency responsible for the encouragement, regulation and enforcement of workplace health, safety and welfare, and for research into occupational risks in Great Britain. It is a non-depar ...

and to the

Workers' Educational Association The Workers' Educational Association (WEA), founded in 1903, is the UK's largest voluntary sector provider of adult education and one of Britain's biggest charities. The WEA is a democratic and voluntary adult education movement. It delivers lea ...

. In 1986, '' The Sun'' newspaper ran a campaign against Greendale, publishing a front-page story with the headline "The Commie Grip Inside Britain's Biggest Union", alleging that he manipulated the results of union elections. Greendale, a member of the Labour Party and prominent supporter of

Tony Benn Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn (3 April 1925 – 14 March 2014), known between 1960 and 1963 as Viscount Stansgate, was a British politician, writer and diarist who served as a Cabinet of the United Kingdom, Cabinet minister in the 1960s and 1970s. ...

, successfully sued the newspaper for defamation, but he lost re-election as chairman, and in 1988 also lost his seat on the executive. The National Dock Labour Scheme was abolished in 1989, and Greendale took part in a brief national strike. However, a majority of Hull dockers soon voted to abandon the strike and return to work. Greendale alone remained on the picket line, accompanied by dockers from Liverpool. He expected to lose his job as a result but, after the national strike was called off, his fellow shop stewards secured his continued employment, by threatening a walk-out if he was not kept on. Greendale was re-elected to the union's national executive in 1990,Keith Harper, "Left gains in rerun TGWU postal ballot", ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 27 March 1990 but by this time was focusing on local politics. He was elected to

Hull City Council (Kingston upon) Hull City Council is the governing body for the unitary authority and city of Kingston upon Hull. It was created in 1972 as the successor to the Corporation of (Kingston upon) Hull, which was also known as Hull Corporation and fou ...

, representing the Labour Party.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greendale, Walter 1930 births 2012 deaths Councillors in the East Riding of Yorkshire Labour Party (UK) councillors Members of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress Trade unionists from Kingston upon Hull