Tony Dubbins was a prominent

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 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 until his retirement from Unite in 2008. He first became a full-time union official in the

National Graphical Association The National Graphical Association (NGA) was a trade union representing typographers and related workers in the United Kingdom. History The union was formed in 1964 by the merger of two long-term rival unions, the Typographical Association an ...

and became general secretary in 1984, leading the union through the

Wapping dispute The Wapping dispute was a lengthy failed strike by print workers in London in 1986. Print unions tried to block distribution of ''The Sunday Times'', along with other newspapers in Rupert Murdoch's News International group, after production wa ...

. The NGA merged with the

Society of Graphical and Allied Trades The Society of Graphical and Allied Trades (SOGAT) was a British trade union in the printing industry. History SOGAT was formed in 1966 by the National Union of Printing, Bookbinding and Paper Workers and the National Society of Operative Pr ...

in 1990. Dubbins won the subsequent election against Brenda Dean, SOGAT's General Secretary, to become the first, and only, general secretary of the Graphical, Paper and Media Union. Following the GPMU's merger with Amicus in 2004, he became Deputy General Secretary. Amicus then merged with the Transport & General Workers Union in May 2007 to form Unite. He was president of the

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union center, national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions that collectively represent most unionised workers in England and Wales. There are 48 affiliated unions with a total of ...

in 1997. Between 2003 and 2008 he was chairman of the

Trade Union and Labour Party Liaison Organisation The Trade Union and Labour Party Liaison Organisation (TULO) is a labour organisation in the United Kingdom that was set up in 1994 by a motion to the Labour Party's Annual Conference. It had several forerunning organisations that coordinated t ...

. During this period he delivered the groundbreaking Warwick Agreement, ensuring every employee was entitled to 20 days paid holiday and maternity leave was increased to nine months. He led the campaign to ensure employment rights for Agency and Temporary Workers.

References

Tony Dubbins a "Giant of the Trade Union Movement" to retire
Living people General secretaries of the National Graphical Association Graphical, Paper and Media Union Members of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress Presidents of the Trades Union Congress Year of birth missing (living people) {{UK-trade-unionist-bio-stub