Catalogue Number
NMLH.2011.2.11
Title
'International Longshoremen's Association I.L.A. AFL CIO Presents To Jack Jones An Honorary Membership ... 1973'
Place
USA, Liverpool
People
Jones, Jack, International Longshoremen's Association, American Longshoremen's Association, Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU)
Date
1973
Description
A rectangular brass plaque with a blue circular enamel logo at the top for the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA). The plaque is held in a black leather wallet with a clear plastic pouch for the plaque.
The plaque was given to the British trade union leader, Jack Jones (1913-2009) for his services on behalf of Longshoremen (the American word for Dockers). 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. This plaque being awarded by a trade union from the United States of America shows how well known his reputation was.
