Leo Crawford (1903 – May 1973) was an Irish

trade union 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 benefits ...

ist. Born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, Crawford was educated at a Christian Brothers school. He left at 15 to become a plasterer and joined the Operative Plasterers Trades Society. The following year, his union undertook a lengthy strike; unable to support himself, he emigrated to England to find work until the strike was over."Death of Mr. Leo Crawford", ''

Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'', 23 May 1973, p.15 Crawford spent a further period in England in the mid-1920s, but by the 1930s was back in Ireland and became increasingly prominent in the trade union movement. He became a full-time official, and served as President of the Dublin Council of Trade Unions in 1939. In the same year, he was elected as President of the Operative Plasterers, serving for ten years. This union was a founder member of the

Congress of Irish Unions The Congress of Irish Unions was a confederation of trade unions in Ireland. History Congress was one of the two governing bodies that emerged after the split in the Irish trade union body the Irish Trades Union Congress in 1945. The split develo ...

, and Crawford served as its Secretary from 1946. In this role, he negotiated a merger between it and the rival

Irish Trades Union Congress The Irish Trades Union Congress (ITUC) was a union federation covering the island of Ireland. History Until 1894, representatives of Irish trade unions attended the British Trades Union Congress (TUC). However, many felt that they had little im ...

, the two amalgamating in 1959 to form the

Irish Congress of Trade Unions The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (often abbreviated to just Congress or ICTU), formed in 1959 by the merger of the Irish Trades Union Congress (founded in 1894) and the Congress of Irish Unions (founded in 1945), is a national trade union centr ...

(ICTU). He stood for election to the

Seanad Éireann Seanad Éireann (, ; "Senate of Ireland") is the upper house of the Oireachtas (the Irish legislature), which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann (the lower house). It is commonly called the Seanad or Senate and its memb ...

in 1951, but was not successful. Crawford was joint secretary of the ICTU until his retirement in 1966.

References

1903 births 1973 deaths Trade unionists from Dublin (city) {{trade-unionist-bio-stub