Edwin Marsden (26 April 1913''England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007'' – 30 August 1975) was a British

trade union 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 (s ...

ist and

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...

activist. Born in the

Openshaw Openshaw is a suburb of Manchester, England, about three miles east of the city centre. Historically part of Lancashire, Openshaw was incorporated into the city of Manchester in 1890. Its name derives from the Old English ''Opinschawe'', which m ...

area of

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

,Graham Stevenson,
Marsden Eddie
, ''Compendium of Communist Biography'' Marsden trained as a draughtsman but instead became a steel erector.

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 ...

, "Obituary: Eddie Marsden", ''Annual Report of the 1975 Trades Union Congress'' In 1935, Marsden joined 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 ...

(CPGB), radicalised in opposition to the Italian invasion of Abyssinia.''

New Society ''New Society'' was a weekly magazine of social inquiry and social and cultural comment, published in the United Kingdom from 1962 to 1988. It drew on the disciplines of sociology, anthropology, psychology, human geography, social history and so ...

'', Vol.27, p.120 He also joined the

Constructional Engineering Union The Constructional Engineering Union (CEU) was a trade union representing steel erectors and other workers involved in steel construction in the United Kingdom. History The union was founded in 1924 as a section of the Iron and Steel Trades C ...

, serving as a site steward for more than thirty years. In 1952, Marsden was elected to the executive of the union, representing North West England, and in 1962 he became the union's full-time organiser for the region, also representing the union on the executive of the

Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions The Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions (CSEU), often known as the Confed is a trade union confederation in the United Kingdom. History The confederation was founded in December 1890 as the Federation of Engineering and Shipbuil ...

. Meanwhile, he became increasingly prominent in the CPGB, serving on its Lancashire and Cheshire District Committee, and standing unsuccessfully for the party in the

1963 Manchester Openshaw by-election The 1963 Manchester Openshaw by-election was held on 5 December 1963. It was held due to the death of the incumbent Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, ...

, and again in the seat in the

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...

and 1966 general elections. F. W. S. Craig, ''British Parliamentary Election Results 1950–1973'' In 1968, he was elected to the party's Executive Committee. Marsden was elected as general secretary of the union in 1968. Three years later it became part of the Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers, albeit remaining largely autonomous, with Marsden continuing as general secretary of the union's new Construction section. This gave Marsden increased prominence in the trade union movement, and he was a prominent figure at meetings of the

. Marsden died in 1975, still in office.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marsden, Eddie 1913 births 1975 deaths Communist Party of Great Britain members General Secretaries of the Amalgamated Engineering Union People from Openshaw Trade unionists from Manchester