Cyril Thomas Howe Plant, Baron Plant, CBE (27 August 1910 – 9 August 1986) was a British

trade unionist 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 ( ...

. Born in

Leek, Staffordshire Leek is a market town and civil parish in the county of Staffordshire, England, on the River Churnet. It is situated about north east of Stoke-on-Trent. It is an ancient borough and was granted its royal charter in 1214. It is the administrat ...

, he worked as a sorting clerk in the

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

and spent a lot of time playing football, later becoming a

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other tit ...

. In 1934, he joined the

Inland Revenue The Inland Revenue was, until April 2005, a department of the British Government responsible for the collection of direct taxation, including income tax, national insurance contributions, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, corporation ...

and became a founding member of the

Inland Revenue Staff Federation The Inland Revenue Staff Federation (IRSF) was a trade union in the United Kingdom. History The Union was born in the late 19th century, when a group of tax clerks met together to fight for higher pay, higher status and better conditions. At t ...

, and was elected to its executive. In 1944, he became the union's full-time assistant secretary, then deputy secretary, before becoming its general secretary in 1960. He was elected to the General Council of the

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions in England and Wales, representing the majority of trade unions. There are 48 affiliated unions, with a total of about 5.5 million members. Frances O ...

(TUC) in 1964, and was its

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

in 1975. He was active in the

International Labour Office The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and ol ...

, and served on its governing body from 1969 to 1977. He served on the Community Relations Commission, the

Monopolies and Mergers Commission The Competition Commission was a non-departmental public body responsible for investigating mergers, markets and other enquiries related to regulated industries under competition law in the United Kingdom. It was a competition regulator under t ...

, as Treasurer of the

Workers' Educational Association The Workers' Educational Association (WEA), founded in 1903, is the UK's largest voluntary sector provider of adult education and one of Britain's biggest charities. The WEA is a democratic and voluntary adult education movement. It delivers lea ...

and Chairman of the Governors of

Ruskin College, Oxford Ruskin College, originally known as Ruskin Hall, Oxford, is an independent educational institution in Oxford, England. It is not a college of Oxford University. It is named after the essayist, art and social critic John Ruskin (1819–1900) an ...

.Plant, Cyril Thomas Howe
, ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

''. Plant retired from his union posts in 1977 and became an advisor to the Police Federation. Plant was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) in the

1965 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 1965 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The appointments were made to celebrate t ...

and promoted to a Commander (CBE) in the 1975 Birthday Honours. On 9 May 1978, 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. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

taking the title Baron Plant, of

Benenden Benenden is a village and civil parish in the borough of Tunbridge Wells in Kent, England. The parish is located on the Weald, to the west of Tenterden. In addition to the main village, Iden Green, East End, Dingleden and Standen Street set ...

in the

County of Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces th ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plant, Cyril 1910 births 1986 deaths Commanders of the Order of the British Empire General secretaries of the Inland Revenue Staff Federation Life peers People from Leek, Staffordshire Presidents of the Trades Union Congress Place of death missing Trade unionists from Staffordshire Life peers created by Elizabeth II