Thomas Jackson

Sitter in 6 portraits
British trade unionist best remembered as the General Secretary of the Union of Post Office Workers (later renamed the Union of Communication Workers). He began working for the General Post Office as a telegraph boy at the age of fourteen. During the war he spent three years serving in the Royal Navy. Upon his return he became a postman, and later a sorter, during which time he became involved in the affairs of the Union of Post Office Workers. He became a member of its executive council in 1955 and in 1967 he was elected General Secretary, a role he held until 1982. In 1971 he led 200,000 members into the first national postal strike, lasting forty-seven days.