David Brookman, Baron Brookman
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David Keith Brookman, Baron Brookman (3 January 1937 – 22 January 2025) was a British steel worker and
trade unionist A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...
.


Life and career

The son of George Henry Brookman and Blodwin Nash, he was educated at Nantyglo Grammar School in
Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South East Wales, south east of Wales. It borders Powys to the north; the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the north and east; the Severn Estuary to the s ...
. Brookman worked as steel worker for
Richard Thomas and Baldwins Richard Thomas and Baldwins Ltd (RTB) was a major iron, steel and tinplate producer, primarily based in Wales and formed in 1948 by the merger of Richard Thomas & Co Ltd with Baldwins Ltd. It was absorbed into British Steel Corporation in 1967. The ...
in
Ebbw Vale Ebbw Vale (; ) is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ebbw Fawr tributary of the Ebbw River in Wales. It is the largest town and the administrative centre of Blaenau Gwent county borough. The Ebbw Vale and Brynmawr conurbation has a ...
from 1953 until 1955, when he began his service in the
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
. In 1957, he returned to his job and performed it to 1973. For the
Iron and Steel Trades Confederation The Iron and Steel Trades Confederation (ISTC) was a British trade union for metal-workers and allied groups, being the largest union in these fields. It was formed on 1 January 1917 as a merger of existing steel-workers' unions and it is now pa ...
, he was divisional organiser from 1973 to 1985, assistant general secretary from 1985 to 1993 and general secretary from 1993 to 1999. From 1993, he was a board member of
British Steel plc British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and cultur ...
and UK Steel Enterprise. From 1976 to 1982, Brookman was member of the TUC Educational Advisory Committee for Wales and from 1992 to 1999, of the
Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union center, national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions that collectively represent most unionised workers in England and Wales. There are 48 affiliated unions with a total of ...
. He was also member of the European Coal and Steel Committee from 1992 to 2002 and of the
International Metalworkers' Federation The International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF) was a global union federation of metalworkers' trade unions, founded in Zürich, Switzerland in August 1893. the IMF had more than 200 member organisations in 100 countries, representing a combine ...
. Between 1992 and 1999, he was further president of the Iron and Steel Non-Ferrous Department. Brookman was member of the Joint Industrial Council for Slag Industry and of the British Steel Joint Accident Prevention Advisory Committee from 1985 to 1993. He was also a member of the British Steel Advisory Committee on Education and Training from 1986 to 1993, and of the executive council of the
European Metalworkers' Federation The European Metalworkers' Federation (EMF), founded in 1971, is a federation of 68 metalworkers' unions from 31 countries, representing a combined total of 6.5 million affiliates. It is based in Brussels, Belgium, the general secretary is Ulrich ...
from 1985 to 1995. From 1991, he was a member of the National T.U. Steel Co-ordinating Committee and from 1993, its chairman. Between 1993 and 2002, he was a member of the European Coal and Steel Community Consultative Committee, between 1993 and 1998 joint secretary of the British Steel Strip Trade Board and of the British Steel Joint Standing Committee, as well as joint secretary of the British Steel European Works Council between 1996 and 1999. Brookman was governor of the
Gwent College of Higher Education Gwent may refer to: Places *Kingdom of Gwent, a post-Roman Welsh kingdom or principality which existed in various forms between about the 5th and 11th centuries, although the name continued in use later *Gwent (preserved county), a preserved count ...
from 1980 to 1984 and trustee of the Julian Melchett Trust from 1985 to 1995. From 2001, he was president of the Welsh Trust for Prevention of Abuse. On 30 July 1998, 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. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...
with the title Baron Brookman, ''of
Ebbw Vale Ebbw Vale (; ) is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ebbw Fawr tributary of the Ebbw River in Wales. It is the largest town and the administrative centre of Blaenau Gwent county borough. The Ebbw Vale and Brynmawr conurbation has a ...
in the
County of Gwent Gwent is a preserved county and former local government county in southeast Wales. A county of Gwent was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972; it was named after the ancient Kingdom of Gwent. The authority was a successor t ...
'' and took the Labour whip. In May 2019 it was revealed that Brookman claimed over £50,000 in expenses, covering a 12-month period, during which he never once spoke or submitted written questions and never took part in a single debate. He retired from the House of Lords in April 2020. From 1958, he was married to Patricia Worthington, daughter of Lawrence Worthington. They have three daughters. Brookman died after a long illness on 22 January 2025, at the age of 88.


References


Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brookman, David 1937 births 2025 deaths Brookman General secretaries of the Iron and Steel Trades Confederation Members of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress Life peers created by Elizabeth II Peers retired under the House of Lords Reform Act 2014 20th-century Royal Air Force personnel Royal Air Force airmen