Catalogue Number
NMLH.2011.2.10
Object Name
Medal
Place
Bulgaria, UK
People
Jack Jones, Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU)
Description
A round brass coloured medal on a ribbon with red, green and white stripes like the Bulgarian national flag. The face side shows a woman fighter brandishing a sword, with a horse behind her. The reverse has a dedication in Bulgarian Cyrillic script, which denotes this as an award for Fraternal Trade Union Services.
This medal was presented to the British trade union leader, Jack Jones (1913-2009) by the Government of Bulgaria in honour of his contributions to the trade union movement. It indicates how well known and reknowned Jones was internationally, as he had never lived in Bulgaria. 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. 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.
Please note - the text of this object has been machine translated, and has not been formally checked by a Bulgarian speaker. PHM welcomes corrections if unintentional translation errors have occurred.
