Baruch Rahmilevich Mendelson (22 March 1910 – 13 April 1994), commonly known as Bert Ramelson, was an industrial organiser and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

for the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPGB ...

. He held the post of National Industrial Organiser from 1965 to 1977, and was editor and a member of editorial board of the '' World Marxist Review'' from 1977 to 1990.

Early life

Ramelson was born the sixth of seven children in a Jewish family in Cherkassy,

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

(now

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

), in 1910. His father was a Talmudic scholar and his mother ran a corner shop inherited from her father, which the family lived in.Seifert, R. & Sibley, T. (2012) ''Revolutionary Communist at Work: A Political Biography of Bert Ramelson'' London: Lawrence & Wishart p. 23 In 1922 Ramelson's family emigrated to

Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

, Canada, where his paternal uncle was a successful fur trader.Seifert, R. & Sibley, T. (2012) ''Revolutionary Communist at Work: A Political Biography of Bert Ramelson'' London: Lawrence & Wishart p. 27 Ramelson won a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, Multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion, athleti ...

to the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

, where he achieved First Class Honours in law. While he was a student he was conscripted onto an officer training course. After completing his mandatory year in practice as an articled clerk and qualifying as a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

, he left to join a

kibbutz A kibbutz ( / , ; : kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1910, was Degania Alef, Degania. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economi ...

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

. He later recalled that he became disillusioned after Histadrut called a strike on an orange grove in the kibbutz, demanding that the Arab workers be replaced by Jews.Seifert, R. & Sibley, T. (2012) ''Revolutionary Communist at Work: A Political Biography of Bert Ramelson'' London: Lawrence & Wishart pp. 28-29

Wars

After briefly returning to Canada, he left to fight with the Canadian battalion of the

International Brigades The International Brigades () were soldiers recruited and organized by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front (Spain), Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The International Bri ...

in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

. He was wounded twice on the

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

and

Ebro The Ebro (Spanish and Basque ; , , ) is a river of the north and northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, in Spain. It rises in Cantabria and flows , almost entirely in an east-southeast direction. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea, forming a de ...

fronts. In 1939 he settled in Britain and for a short time was a trainee manager at Marks and Spencer. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he was an NCO driver in the 7th Royal Tank Regiment. In 1942 he was imprisoned by German forces after the capture of Tobruk. He organised an escape from an Italian prisoner of war camp after the Italian armistice of September 1943 and fought with the Italian Resistance. He was commissioned second lieutenant in the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

in March 1945 and later became an acting staff captain (legal) in India. In 1983 he was interviewed about his war service by the Imperial War Museum.

Post-war

After the war, he became acting full-time secretary of the

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

branch of the Communist Party. Ramelson held this post from 1946 to 1953 and encouraged political activism within the Yorkshire

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

community, working with the National Union of Mineworkers, where he mentored the young Arthur Scargill. He stood as the Communist candidate at the Leeds South by-election in 1963, where he finished in fourth place; as well as at the 1964 and 1966 general elections, consistently coming last with a mere 2-3% share of the vote.

National Industrial Organiser

In 1965 Ramelson was appointed National Industrial Organiser of the Communist Party and in 1966, during the seamen's strike of 1966, he was one of a number of men accused by Labour

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx (11 March 1916 – 23 May 1995) was a British statesman and Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from 1964 to 1970 and again from 197 ...

of being members of "a tightly knit group of politically motivated men who, as the last General Election showed, utterly failed to secure acceptance of their views by the British electorate. Some of them are now saying very blatantly that they are more concerned with harming the nation than with getting the justice we all want to see". During his time as National Organiser Ramelson encouraged the party to forge links with trade unions such as the Transport and General Workers Union and, with a range of organisers such as Jack Jones and Ken Gill, coordinated union resistance to some of the policies of the Wilson government of the 1960s, above all Barbara Castle's proposals to reform trade union law in the White Paper '' In Place of Strife''. Later, in the 1970s, he was a prominent opponent of

incomes policies Incomes policies in economics are economy-wide wage and price controls, most commonly instituted as a response to inflation, and usually seeking to establish wages and prices below free-market level. Incomes policies have often been resorted to ...

of both Conservative and Labour governments, and of the

Social Contract In moral and political philosophy, the social contract is an idea, theory, or model that usually, although not always, concerns the legitimacy of the authority of the state over the individual. Conceptualized in the Age of Enlightenment, it ...

between the trade unions and the Labour government. The tactics implemented by Ramelson mobilised militant trades unionists to organise within the labour movement. He opposed the Industrial Relations Act 1971 and fought for the release of the Pentonville Five. In 1972 he organised flying pickets during the miners' strike. In 1973 Ramelson said: "We have more influence now on the

labour movement The labour movement is the collective organisation of working people to further their shared political and economic interests. It consists of the trade union or labour union movement, as well as political parties of labour. It can be considere ...

than at any time in the life of our party. The Communist Party can float an idea early in the year. It goes to trade union conferences as a resolution and it can become official Labour Party policy by the autumn. A few years ago we were on our own, but not now."

Personal life

He married his first wife Marian in 1939, whom he met in the Communist Party in Leeds. Marian Ramelson wrote ''Petticoat Rebellion'', a work about

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

, and was a leading activist in the Party. Marian died in 1967 and he married Joan Smith in 1970.

Publications

*''Incomes Policy: The Great Wage Freeze Trick'' *''Keep the Unions Free'' (1969) *''Donovan Exposed: A Critical Analysis of the Report of the Royal Commission on Trade Unions'' (1968) *''Productivity Agreements: An Exposure of the Latest and Greatest Swindle on the Wages Front'' (1970) *''Carr's Bill and How to Kill It: A Class Analysis'' (1971) *''Heath's War on Your Wage Packet: The Latest Tory Attack on Living Standards and Trade Union Rights'' (1973) *''Smash Phase III: The Tory Fraud Exposed'' (1973) *''Social Contract: Cure or Con-trick?'' (1974) *''Bury the Social Contract: The Case for an Alternative Policy'' (1977) *''Consensus for Socialism'' (1987)

References

External links

Bert Ramelson Remembered website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramelson, Bert 1910 births 1994 deaths British Army personnel of World War II British World War II prisoners of war World War II prisoners of war held by Germany Communist Party of Great Britain members Royal Tank Regiment soldiers Royal Artillery officers Ukrainian emigrants to Canada British people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent Ukrainian emigrants to the United Kingdom Canadian emigrants to England Canadian people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent University of Alberta alumni International Brigades personnel Jews from the Russian Empire Jewish Canadian politicians Jewish socialists Soviet emigrants to Canada Lawyers in Alberta British barristers 20th-century British lawyers