Catalogue Number
NMLH.2011.2.6
Object Name
Medal
Title
Coventry Award Of Merit
Place
Coventry
People
Jack Jones, Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU)
Events
Second World War, Blitz in Coventry
Description
A rectangular gold medal with cross motifs on the front. The medal is on a gold chain, and also has with it a green ribbon with orange vertical stripes and an gold enamel bar that says 'Coventry Award of Merit'.
This medal was presented to the British trade union leader, Jack Jones (1913-2009) by the city of Coventry for both his services to trade unionism his civil contribution in Coventry between 1939-1956 when he was stationed there as a Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU) official, first as District Secretary during the Second World War, and then as Regional Secretary. He was influential in organising the automotive industry throughout the West Midlands in the post-war period. The design on the front of the medal replicates elements of the then-newly built Coventry Cathedral which had been destroyed during the Blitz.
Jones was born in Liverpool, and became a docker after losing his job as an engineer during the Great Depression. He describes being a socialist after reading The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists after being passed the book in workplace. Jones describes this as the method through which many workers became convinced of the need to participate in an organised labour movement. Jones joined the Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU), became a shop steward, then joined the National Docks Group Committee, becoming general secretary of the entire TGWU in 1968. One of his achievements as a union leader was helping to establish the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) which acts as a neutral party to help solve disputes and grievances between workers and employers. By 1977, polls indicated that 54% of people viewed Jones as the most powerful man in the country, outstripping even the Prime Minister and the monarch. A committed anti-fascist, Jones also fought in the British
Battalion of the XV (Fifteenth) International Brigade during the Spanish Civil War, and was wounded during the Battle of the Ebro in 1938. He came to Coventry following his repatriation to Britain following that injury.
PHM's collection of medals from Jones are largely a mix of honours relating to his service in Spain, and acknowledgements of his service to the trade union movement.
