George Middleton (trade unionist)
George Walker Middleton CBE (4 April 1898 – 8 August 1971) was a Scottish trade union leader.
Middleton grew up in Glasgow and attended Keppochhill School before becoming active in the National Union of Distributive and Allied Workers.[1] He joined the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB), becoming the party's Glasgow District Organiser,[2] and stood unsuccessfully in Glasgow St Rollox at the 1929 general election. That year, he was a key leader of the Glasgow Hunger March.[3]
Middleton served as secretary of the Glasgow Trades Council from 1942 until 1949,[3] then in 1949 was elected as General Secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC), serving until 1963. In retirement, he chaired the Herring Industry Board and served as vice-chair of the Economic Planning Council for Scotland.[1]
In 1953, Middleton was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.[1]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c "MIDDLETON, George Walker", Who Was Who
- ^ Nigel West, Mask: MI5's Penetration of the Communist Party of Great Britain, p.10
- ^ a b Ian MacDougall, Voices from Work and Home, p.509