John McKenzie McBain (27 August 1882 – 28 January 1941) 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 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 ...

and political activist. Born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, McBain grew up in

Elgin Elgin may refer to: Places Canada * Elgin County, Ontario * Elgin Settlement, a 19th-century community for freed slaves located in present-day North Buxton and South Buxton, Ontario * Elgin, a village in Rideau Lakes, Ontario * Elgin, Manit ...

before completing an apprenticeship in a foundry in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. He devoted his spare time to

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

until an injury force him to quit the sport, and in 1906 he decided instead to focus on

trade unionism 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 ...

. He joined the

Associated Iron Moulders of Scotland The Associated Iron Moulders of Scotland (AIMS) was a trade union representing foundry workers in Scotland. The union was created in 1831 as the Scottish Iron Moulders' Union. Its founder was James Dunn, a former cotton worker who had been blac ...

and 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 ...

(ILP), but Tom Bell convinced him to leave the ILP and join the Marxist Socialist Labour Party. McBain was elected to the executive of the Associated Iron Moulders, and used his position to support the

Clyde Workers' Committee The Clyde Workers Committee was formed to campaign against the Munitions Act. It was originally called the ''Labour Withholding Committee''. The leader of the CWC was Willie Gallacher (politician), Willie Gallacher, who was jailed under the Def ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. In 1916, most of the leading figures on the committee were imprisoned or deported, and McBain became one of its new leaders; however, during this period, it did little more than raise money to support those who had been deported. However, he worked with Bell and Jim Gardner to unionise workers in smaller Scottish foundries; a three-week unofficial strike achieved this end, and he sat on a committee representing

shop steward A union representative, union steward, or shop steward is an employee of an organization or company who represents and defends the interests of their fellow employees as a trades/labour union member and official. Rank-and-file members of the un ...

s. The

Red Clydeside Red Clydeside was an era of political radicalism in Glasgow, Scotland, from the 1910s until the early 1930s. It also referred to the area around the city on the banks of the River Clyde, such as Clydebank, Greenock, Dumbarton and Paisley. Red C ...

movement heated up again in 1919, when McBain was present at the

Battle of George Square The Battle of George Square was a violent confrontation in Glasgow, Scotland between City of Glasgow Police and striking workers, centred around George Square. The "battle", also known as "Bloody Friday" or "Black Friday", took place on Friday 3 ...

and received a head injury. He found his way to other

David Kirkwood David Kirkwood, 1st Baron Kirkwood, PC (8 July 1872 – 16 April 1955), was a Scottish politician, trade unionist and socialist activist from the East End of Glasgow, who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for nearly 30 years, and was as a ...

and Willie Gallacher, two former leaders of the Clyde Workers Committee who had also been injured, and convinced them to address the crowd, to encourage them to move to

Glasgow Green Glasgow Green is a park in the east end of Glasgow, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde. Established in the 15th century, it is the oldest park in the city. It connects to the south via the St Andrew's Suspension Bridge. History In ...

. Willie Gallacher, ''The Clyde in Wartime'', p.26 McBain had campaigned for many years for the various foundry unions to unite, and this was largely achieved in 1920, when the Associated Iron Moulders became part of the new

National Union of Foundry Workers The National Union of Foundry Workers (NUFW) was a trade union representing workers in foundries in the United Kingdom. History The union was founded in 1920 with the merger of the Associated Iron Moulders of Scotland, the Amalgamated Society o ...

(NUFW). Unfortunately for him, this led to him losing his job, and although he was a founder member of 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), initially his involvement was in organising other unemployed workers. The NUFW employed McBain as an organiser from 1922, and he devoted himself to the role. He also joined the

National Minority Movement The National Minority Movement was a British organisation, established in 1924 by the Communist Party of Great Britain, which attempted to organise a radical presence within the existing labor union, trade unions. The organization was headed by l ...

, and was the first chairman of the Glasgow Central Strike Co-ordination Committee during the

1926 UK general strike The 1926 general strike in the United Kingdom was a general strike that lasted nine days, from 4 to 12 May 1926. It was called by the General Council of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in an unsuccessful attempt to force the British government ...

, although he was replaced by Peter Kerrigan after a few days. In 1928, he formed an unofficial Scottish district committee of the NUFW which prospered, despite the opposition of the union's leadership. He died, still in post, in 1941.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McBain, Jock 1882 births 1941 deaths Communist Party of Great Britain members Trade unionists from Edinburgh Trade unionists from Glasgow Red Clydeside Socialist Labour Party (UK, 1903) members