Peter Edward Carter (8 July 1938 – 11 October 2011) was 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 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 ...

History

Born in

Tipton Tipton is an industrial town in the metropolitan borough of Sandwell, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It had a population of 38,777 at the 2011 UK Census. It is located northwest of Birmingham and southeas ...

, Carter left school at fifteen and worked as a bricklayer while still illiterate. Graham Stevenson claims that Carter was briefly involved with

fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

street gangs, possibly the

Union Movement The Union Movement (UM) was a far-right political party founded in the United Kingdom by Oswald Mosley. Before the Second World War, Mosley's British Union of Fascists (BUF) had wanted to concentrate trade within the British Empire, but the ...

,Graham Stevenson,
Carter Pete
, ''Compendium of Communist Biography'' but he met Norma Harris in 1958, marrying her in 1962, and she influenced him to join the

Young Communist League The Young Communist League (YCL) is the name used by the youth wing of various Communist parties around the world. The name ''YCL of ountry' originates from the precedent established by the Communist Youth International. Examples of YCLs includ ...

. Carter was the organiser of the Young Communists from 1963 until 1969, in which role he was responsible for its "The Trend is Communism" campaign. and was increasingly prominent in 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). He opposed the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, but this did not halt his rise in the party, and he stood in the 1970 general election against

Enoch Powell John Enoch Powell (16 June 19128 February 1998) was a British politician, scholar and writer. He served as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Wolverhampton South West for the Conservative Party (UK), Conserv ...

Wolverhampton South West Wolverhampton South West was a borough constituency, constituency in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was based in the city of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands (county), W ...

. During the 1970s, Carter was a leading activist in the

Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians The Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians (UCATT) was a British and Republic of Ireland, Irish trade union, operating in the construction industry. It was founded in 1971, and merged into Unite (trade union), Unite on 1 January ...

(UCATT). In

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, he led a successful campaign to abolish casual labour on Bryant Estates sites, and to improve wages, drawing attention by occupying The Rotunda. He also led the campaign against the demolition of

the post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

Victoria Square, Birmingham Victoria Square is a Pedestrian zone, pedestrianised Town square, public square in Birmingham, England. It is home to both the Birmingham Town Hall, Town Hall and the Council House, Birmingham, Council House, and directly adjacent to Chamberl ...

. From 1980, he was UCATT's organiser for the Midlands, in which post he co-ordinated the People's March for Jobs. In 1982, the CPGB appointed Carter as its National Industrial Organiser, but conflict between him 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 ...

meant work was difficult during the UK miners' strike. He remained in post until the party dissolved in 1991, then returned to building work. In later life, Carter lived on a canal boat and was involved in environmental campaigns.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Pete 1938 births 2011 deaths British trade unionists Communist Party of Great Britain members People from Tipton