__NOTOC__ Eric Albert Barrett Hammond,

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(17 July 1929 – 30 May 2009) was general secretary of the

EETPU The Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union, known as the EETPU, was a British trade union formed in 1968 as a union for electricians and plumbers, which went through three mergers from 1992 to now be part of Unite the Un ...

, a

British 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 culture ...

trade union, from 1984 to 1992. Hammond was born in

Northfleet Northfleet is a town in the borough of Gravesham in Kent, England. It is located immediately west of Gravesend, and on the border with the Borough of Dartford. Northfleet has its own railway station on the North Kent Line, just east of Ebbsf ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, and was evacuated to

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, returning to the UK in 1945. He served his apprenticeship as an electrician with the

Bowater Bowater Inc. was a paper and pulp business headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina. It merged with Abitibi-Consolidated in 2007, and the combined company went on to become Resolute Forest Products. History The North American assets of Bow ...

paper company, and in 1950 was called up for national service, serving for two years with the

Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME ) is the maintenance arm of the British Army that maintains the equipment that the Army uses. The corps is described as the "British Army's professional engineers". History Prior t ...

. In 1947 he joined the Labour Party. Hammond, like his predecessors Leslie Cannon and

Frank Chapple Frank Chapple, Baron Chapple (8 August 1921 – 19 October 2004) was general secretary of the Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union (EETPU), a leading British trade union. Life Frank Chapple was born in the slum area ...

, ostensibly started his career on the Left, but, unlike them, was never an actual member of the Communist Party. In 1977 he was appointed an

. In 1982 he was elected to succeed Chapple as general secretary of the EETPU, a post he occupied fully from 1984. Hammond opposed nearly everything in the tradition of conventional trade unionism, for which he was referred to as "right wing". The most famous example was "no strike" clauses. Eric Hammond and

Arthur Scargill Arthur Scargill (born 11 January 1938) is a British trade unionist who was President of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) from 1982 to 2002. He is best known for leading the 1984–1985 UK miners' strike, a major event in the history o ...

famously fell out at the 1984 TUC conference when he described the

UK miners' strike (1984–85) UK miners' strike may refer to: * 1893 United Kingdom miners' strike * South Wales miners' strike (1910) * 1912 United Kingdom national coal strike * UK miners' strike (1921) * UK miners' strike (1953) * 1969 United Kingdom miners' strike, a widesp ...

as "

lions led by donkeys "Lions led by donkeys" is a phrase used to imply that a capable group of individuals are incompetently led. Coined in classical antiquity, the phrase was commonly used after World War I to contrast senior commanders who had led armies, most pro ...

". He refused to take the electricians in to the strike on the side of the miners, even though many of the union's members wanted to, and thus without the power of the electricians it is thought he prolonged the strike for many months. He died on 30 May 2009, aged 79, after a lengthy illness. He was survived by his wife Brenda and their two sons.Tribute website
/ref>

References

External links

''Guardian'' obituaryCatalogue of Hammond's papers
held at the

Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick The Modern Records Centre (MRC) is the specialist archive service of the University of Warwick in Coventry, England, located adjacent to the Central Campus Library. It was established in October 1973 and holds the world's largest archive collect ...

1929 births 2009 deaths Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union British anti-communists British trade union leaders Members of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Northfleet Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers soldiers 20th-century British Army personnel Military personnel from Kent {{UK-trade-unionist-bio-stub

See also

References

External links