Alexander Hutchison (1864 – 1928) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

trade union 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 ...

leader who served as chair of the General Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU). Born in

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

, Hutchison began working at the age of eight, later becoming an iron moulder. An early member of the National Union of Stove Grate and General Metal Workers, he became secretary of his local branch in 1893. He also joined the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberal Party (UK), Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse work ...

, and became a vocal advocate of

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

. In 1908, Hutchison became a full-time organiser for the Stove Grate Workers, and then in 1909 was elected as the union's general secretary. Relocated to

Rotherham Rotherham ( ) is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies at the confluence of the River Rother, South Yorkshire, River Rother, from which the town gets its name, and the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don. It is the largest settlement ...

, he became active in the local Labour Party, being elected to the town council in 1916, and chairing the local Labour Party from 1918. Also in 1918, he was elected as chair of the National Federation of Foundry Unions, and in 1921 he was elected to the Management Committee of the GFTU. Hutchison served as chair of the GFTU from 1926 to 1928, when he died suddenly.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hutchison, Alex 1864 births 1928 deaths Councillors in South Yorkshire General secretaries of British trade unions Presidents of the General Federation of Trade Unions (UK) Labour Party (UK) councillors People from Falkirk Scottish trade unionists