Derek Hodgson (trade unionist)

Last updated March 12, 2023

Derek Hodgson (born 1941) is a former Welsh trade union leader.

Born in Cardiff, Hodgson attended St Mary's Catholic School. He left at the age of fifteen, and turned down a place at agricultural college for a job delivering telegrams for the Post Office.^[1] He joined the Union of Post Office Workers and became the union representative for the telegram boys. Part of his job involved delivering dispatch boxes to George Thomas, who encouraged Hodgson to join the Labour Party.^[2]

In his youth, Hodgson was a keen welterweight boxer, coached by Eddie Thomas. He considered turning professional, but he broke his leg in a motorbike accident at the age of nineteen and thereafter spent his spare time playing rugby and horse riding.^[2]

In 1963, Hodgson was appointed as a full-time union official, and in 1978 he was elected to its national executive. In 1987, he was promoted to become national organiser, then became deputy general secretary in 1991. In 1993, he stood to become general secretary of the union, by then known as the Union of Communication Workers (UCW), but was defeated by Alan Johnson.^[1] Hodgson was also elected to the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party, and became a close ally of John Smith, meeting with him the night before Smith died.^[2]

The UCW became part of the Communication Workers' Union, and in 1997, Hodgson was elected to replace Johnson as its joint general secretary. He was highly critical of Johnson, stating that when he took over, "we had the worst record in industrial relations of any union and a bloody mess to sort out". He restructured the union, soon becoming sole general secretary, and prioritised a campaign against the privatisation of the Post Office. However, he was keen to avoid any suggestion of being a left-winger, claiming that he was "more of a [John] Prescott man".^[1]

Hodgson retired in 2001.^[3]

Since retiring Derek moved up North and now lives on the Lancashire coast with his wife Sheena, he is also a keen golfer.

Related Research Articles

Robert Crow was an English trade union leader who served as the General Secretary of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) from 2002 until his death in 2014. He was also a member of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress (TUC). A self-described "communist/socialist", he was a leading figure in the No to EU – Yes to Democracy campaign.

The GMB is a general trade union in the United Kingdom which has more than 460,000 members. Its members work in nearly all industrial sectors, in retail, security, schools, distribution, the utilities, social care, the National Health Service (NHS), ambulance service and local government.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) is the main trade union in the United Kingdom for people working for telephone, cable, digital subscriber line (DSL) and postal delivery companies. It has 110,000 members in Royal Mail as well as more in many other communication companies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Johnson (Irish politician)</span> Irish Labour Party politician (1872–1963)

Thomas Ryder Johnson was an Irish Labour Party politician and trade unionist who served as Leader of the Opposition from 1922 to 1927 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1917 to 1927. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for Dublin County from 1922 to 1927. He was a Senator for the Labour Panel from 1928 to 1934.

Robert Laxton is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Derby North from 1997 until standing down at the 2010 general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Harris (British politician)</span> British politician and former MP

Thomas Harris is a British journalist and former politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow South, formerly Glasgow Cathcart, from 2001 to 2015. A former member of Scottish Labour, he left the party in August 2018. Since 2021 he has been lead non-executive director of the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland and Advocate General for Scotland.

Arthur Ernest Tiffin OBE, commonly known as Jock Tiffin or A. E. Tiffin, was the third general secretary of the British Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU). He served for only a few months in 1955 before his death.

Sharon Hodgson is a British Labour Party politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Washington and Sunderland West, previously Gateshead East and Washington West, since 2005.

The Union of Communication Workers (UCW) was a trade union in the United Kingdom for workers in the post office and telecommunications industries.

Anthony James Clarke, Baron Clarke of Hampstead, CBE is an English trade unionist and Labour Party politician.

William Hayes is the former leader of the Communication Workers' Union in the United Kingdom.

David (Dave) Ward is a British trade union leader and General Secretary of the Communication Workers Union (CWU), which was formed through the merger of the Union of Communication Workers and the National Communications Union in 1995. The CWU is the largest trade union in the United Kingdom for people working in the Postal and Telecommunications industry with over 180,000 members. Ward is a co-chair of Stand Up To Racism.

Leonard David McCluskey is a British trade unionist. He was General Secretary of Unite the Union, the largest affiliate and a major donor to the Labour Party. As a young adult, he spent some years working in the Liverpool Docks for the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company prior to becoming a full-time union official for the Transport and General Workers' Union (T&GWU) in 1979.

Ron Smith CBE was a British trade unionist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shadow Cabinet of Tony Blair</span>

Tony Blair was Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition from his election as Leader on 21 July 1994 until he became Prime Minister on 2 May 1997. Blair became leader upon the death of John Smith.

The Organisation of Scottish Labour is the branch office of the UK Labour Party.

Unite the Union, commonly known as Unite, is a British and Irish trade union which was formed on 1 May 2007 by the merger of Amicus and the Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU). Unite is the second largest trade union in the UK, with over 1.2 million members across construction, manufacturing, transport, logistics, and other sectors. The general secretary of Unite is Sharon Graham, who was elected on 25 August 2021 with 46,696 votes on a turnout of 124,127, with her term beginning on 26 August 2021.

Michael Joseph Cash is the former general secretary of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT), a British trade union.

The 2015 Labour Party deputy leadership election was triggered on 8 May 2015 by the resignation of Harriet Harman as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party of the United Kingdom following the party's defeat at the 2015 General Election. Harman, the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, became Acting Leader following Leader Ed Miliband's resignation. Harman announced on the same day that she would step down as Deputy Leader, with her resignation taking effect when the new Leader and Deputy Leader are elected.

Harold Ewart Clay was a British trade union leader, also known for his political and educational activities.

References

1 2 3 David Gow, "The postman knocks: Interview Derek Hodgson, CWU general secretary", The Guardian , 2 October 1999
1 2 3 Dominic Kennedy, "Two men battle for stamp of authority", The Times , 18 April 1998
↑ "Post union's new leader", Liverpool Echo , 24 May 2001

Trade union offices
Preceded by Tony Clarke	Deputy General Secretary of the Union of Communication Workers 1993–1994	Succeeded by Position abolished
Preceded by Alan Johnson and Tony Young	General Secretary of the Communication Workers' Union 1997 – 2001 With: Tony Young (1997 – 1998)	Succeeded by Billy Hayes

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[gow-1] 1 2 3 David Gow, "The postman knocks: Interview Derek Hodgson, CWU general secretary", The Guardian , 2 October 1999

[kennedy-2] 1 2 3 Dominic Kennedy, "Two men battle for stamp of authority", The Times , 18 April 1998

[3] "Post union's new leader", Liverpool Echo , 24 May 2001

[1]

[2]

[3]