William Edward John McCarthy, Baron McCarthy (30 July 1925 – 18 November 2012) was a British

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

politician. McCarthy was a fellow of

Nuffield College Nuffield College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is a graduate college and specialises in the social sciences, particularly economics, politics and sociology. Nuffield is one of Oxford's newer co ...

and Templeton College, Oxford and a specialist in

industrial relations Industrial relations or employment relations is the multidisciplinary academic field that studies the employment relationship; that is, the complex interrelations between employers and employees, labor/trade unions, employer organizations, ...

. He was created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

on 19 January 1976 as Baron McCarthy, ''of

Headington Headington is an eastern suburb of Oxford, England. It is at the top of Headington Hill overlooking the city in the Thames valley below, and bordering Marston to the north-west, Cowley to the south, and Barton and Risinghurst to the east. Th ...

in the

City of Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

''. From 1979 to 1997 he was Opposition Spokesperson for Employment. McCarthy was described as "one of Britain’s most influential academics in the field of industrial relations, a painstaking arbiter in the most testing of disputes.. ""Lord McCarthy: Telegraph obituary" at telegraph.co.uk
/ref> McCarthy grew up in

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

, London and attended Holloway County School (now

Holloway School Beacon High is a coeducational secondary school for 11-16-year-olds in the Tufnell Park area, located in the London Borough of Islington, England. Beacon High is a member of the Islington Futures Federation of Community Schools and the Islington ...

). Old Camdenians
Retrieved 31 January 2015 He worked in a gentlemen's outfitter, where he was a representative of the

USDAW 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 ...

trade union, which sponsored him to study for a diploma at

Ruskin College, Oxford 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 1955 he matriculated at

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the Colleges of Oxford University, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the ...

, taking a first class honours degree in philosophy, politics and economics (PPE) in 1957 before going on to read for a DPhil at

Nuffield College, Oxford Nuffield College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is a graduate college and specialises in the social sciences, particularly economics, politics and sociology. Nuffield is one of Oxford's newer co ...

, where he held a research fellowship from 1959 to 1963. In 1965 he was appointed research director of the Royal Commission on Trade Unions and Employers’ Associations. The body was set up by the

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...

government and led to the failed "

In Place of Strife ''In Place of Strife'' ( Cmnd 3888) was a UK Government white paper written in 1969. It was a proposed act to use the law to reduce the power of trade unions in the United Kingdom, but was never passed into law. The title of the paper was a rework ...

" reforms proposed by

Barbara Castle Barbara Anne Castle, Baroness Castle of Blackburn, (''née'' Betts; 6 October 1910 – 3 May 2002), was a British Labour Party politician who was a Member of Parliament from 1945 to 1979, making her one of the longest-serving female MPs in Bri ...

. In the following three years McCarthy carried out extensive research, particularly into the election of shop stewards. In 1978 McCarthy was involved in the arbitration in the dispute over bonuses for drivers of the high-speed

Advanced Passenger Train The Advanced Passenger Train (APT) was a tilting high speed train developed by British Rail during the 1970s and early 1980s, for use on the West Coast Main Line (WCML). The WCML contained many curves, and the APT pioneered the concept of activ ...

ASLEF The Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF) is a British trade union representing train drivers. It is part of the International Transport Workers' Federation and the European Transport Workers' Federation. At the end of ...

, the train-drivers’ union insisted that the bonus be paid to all its members and went on strike in protest. McCarthy ruled that only those driving at more than 100 mph should receive the bonus, but it took the union a year to accept the ruling. McCarthy was a distinguished supporter of the

British Humanist Association Humanists UK, known from 1967 until May 2017 as the British Humanist Association (BHA), is a charitable organisation which promotes secular humanism and aims to represent "people who seek to live good lives without religious or superstitious b ...

Selected works

* ''The Closed Shop in Britain'' (1964) * ''The Role of Shop Stewards in British Industrial Relations'' (1966) * ''Trade Unions'' (1972, 1985) * ''Coming to Terms with Trade Unions'' (1973) * ''Strikes in Post-War Britain'' (1983) * ''Fairness at Work'' (1999)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mccarthy, William, Baron Maccarthy 1925 births 2012 deaths People educated at Holloway School Fellows of Nuffield College, Oxford Labour Party (UK) life peers Alumni of Merton College, Oxford Alumni of Nuffield College, Oxford Life peers created by Elizabeth II