Leo Crawford (1903 – May 1973) was an Irish

trade union 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 ...

ist. Born in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, Crawford was educated at a Christian Brothers school. He left at 15 to become a plasterer and joined the Operative Plasterers Trades Society. The following year, his union undertook a lengthy strike; unable to support himself, he emigrated to England to find work until the strike was over."Death of Mr. Leo Crawford", ''

Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'', 23 May 1973, p.15 Crawford spent a further period in England in the mid-1920s, but by the 1930s was back in Ireland and became increasingly prominent in the trade union movement. He became a full-time official, and served as President of the Dublin Council of Trade Unions in 1939. In the same year, he was elected as President of the Operative Plasterers, serving for ten years. This union was a founder member of the Congress of Irish Unions, and Crawford served as its Secretary from 1946. In this role, he negotiated a merger between it and the rival

Irish Trades Union Congress The Irish Trades Union Congress (ITUC) was a union federation covering the island of Ireland. History Until 1894, representatives of Irish trade unions attended the British Trades Union Congress (TUC). However, many felt that they had little i ...

, the two amalgamating in 1959 to form the

Irish Congress of Trade Unions The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (often abbreviated to just Congress or ICTU), formed in 1959 by the merger of the Irish Trades Union Congress (founded in 1894) and the Congress of Irish Unions (founded in 1945), is a national trade union cent ...

(ICTU). He stood for election to the

Seanad Éireann Seanad Éireann ( ; ; "Senate of Ireland") is the senate of the Oireachtas (the Irish legislature), which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann (defined as the house of representatives). It is commonly called the Seanad or ...

in 1951, but was not successful. Crawford was joint secretary of the ICTU until his retirement in 1966.

References

1903 births 1973 deaths Trade unionists from Dublin (city) {{trade-unionist-bio-stub