Colm Sean O'Kane (1935 – 14 June 2005) was a
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 ...
from
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
.
Born in
County Londonderry
County Londonderry (Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry (), is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty-two Counties of Ireland, count ...
, O'Kane studied at
St Columb's College
St Columb's College is a Roman Catholic boys' grammar school in Derry, Northern Ireland. Since 2008, it has been a specialist school in mathematics. It is named after Saint Columba, the missionary monk from County Donegal who founded a monast ...
alongside
John Hume
John Hume (18 January 19373 August 2020) was an Irish nationalist politician in Northern Ireland and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. A founder and leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, Hume served in the Parliament of Northern Irel ...
. He then became a mental health nurse, working at
Purdysburn Hospital in
Belfast
Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...
, then worked at
Darenth Park Hospital
Darenth Park Hospital was a healthcare facility in Darenth near Dartford in Kent, originally founded as Darenth School.
History
The hospital was founded by the Metropolitan Asylums Board in Darenth near Dartford in Kent as Darenth School for ...
in Kent, with people with learning disabilities. Finally, he worked at
Aston Hall Hospital in
Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...
.
O'Kane became active in the
Confederation of Health Service Employees
The Confederation of Health Service Employees (COHSE) was a United Kingdom trade union representing workers primarily in the National Health Service.
History
The union was founded in 1946 with the merger of the Mental Hospital and Institutional ...
(COHSE), and from 1964 worked for the union full-time as a regional secretary. He was promoted to become a national officer in 1974, then in 1987 he ran to become general secretary of the union, losing to
Hector MacKenzie. Instead, he won election as the union's deputy general secretary, and also won a place on the
Labour Party's
National Executive Committee.
O'Kane was re-elected unopposed as deputy general secretary of COHSE in 1992, and then led the negotiations with the
National and Local Government Officers' Association
The National and Local Government Officers' Association was a British trade union representing mostly local government White-collar workers, "white collar" workers. It was formed in 1905 as the National Association of Local Government Officers, ...
and
National Union of Public Employees
The National Union of Public Employees (NUPE) was a British trade union which existed between 1908 and 1993. It represented public sector workers in local government, the Health Service, universities, and water authorities.
History
The union w ...
which formed
Unison
Unison (stylised as UNISON) is a Great Britain, British trade union. Along with Unite the Union, Unite, Unison is one of the two largest trade unions in the United Kingdom, with over 1.2 million members who work predominantly in public servic ...
. He served as joint deputy general secretary of Unison until his retirement in 1994. In 2000, he began suffering with
motor neurone disease
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or—in the United States—Lou Gehrig's disease (LGD), is a rare, terminal neurodegenerative disorder that results in the progressive loss of both upper and low ...
, and he died of the condition five years later.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:OKane, Colm
1935 births
2005 deaths
Trade unionists from County Londonderry
People educated at St Columb's College
Health professionals from County Londonderry