Trade unionist instrumental in the creation of Siptu and social partnership

John Carroll

Born: January 8th, 1925

Died: April 19th 2018

John Carroll, who has died in his 94th year, was one of the main figures who shaped the contemporary Irish trade union movement.

‘Anyone who didn’t abide by the rule was tied to a tree’

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‘Johnny Sexton was basically saying I’m Leinster and Ireland’s unsung hero’

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I’m tired of women’s bodies being thrown around the morality ballroom

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As General President of the Irish Transport and General Workers Union (ITGWU), he was one of the drivers of its amalgamation with the Federated Workers Union of Ireland. The amalgamation created SIPTU, the biggest union in the country. It consolidated the trade union movement.

The creation of SIPTU was not easy. The old Workers Union of Ireland had split from the ITGWU in 1924. Over the years there had been much ill-feeling between the two unions. Many on his own union’s executive were reluctant.

He was also one of the major advocates of centralised pay bargaining. He thought deeply about this, wishing for it to include educational opportunity, equality, social welfare, housing and industrial development. From the late 1950s he had worked at the creation of national bargaining mechanisms.

The social partnership he espoused and helped establish was not always universally supported in the trade union movement. However, he believed it was best for long-term economic stability. Employers found that, while strongly concerned for his members, his approach to industrial relations was constructive.

He served almost 20 years on the Executive of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, and was its President. A life-long Labour Party member, he also sat in the Seanad for a year in the 1980s.

He was ahead of his time in his rejection of nuclear power in the 1970s, a time when the not only the Government but also his own Labour Party were in favour. Even many in the trade union movement were pro-nuclear, believing it would bring jobs. There were major protests at the proposed site in Co Wexford in the 1970s and 1980s, and public opinion and Government policy became opposed.

Carroll was also a clarinetist who played to professional standard. He had joined the ITGWU Brass and Reed Band at 14, and was its conductor for many years. While at school, he performed on Radió Éireann. In the Band he was an innovator, bringing in women members in the early 1960s. He composed a number of tunes for the Band.

John Francis Carroll was born in the Ballybough area of Dublin in 1925, second eldest of four children to John Carroll and his wife May (née Daly). His father was a labourer with Dublin Corporation, active in the ITGWU, and had been a member of the Communist Party in its early days. The young Carroll was educated at St Canice’s National School, followed by secondary education at O’Connell School.

After leaving school, he was successful in the examination to enter the Civil Service. However, the ITGWU had already spotted his abilities. A family friend approached his mother, and asked if her son would be interested in working with the union. He began as branch assistant in the Hotels and Catering Branch. He was moved about internally, and for a short time was Branch Secretary in Carlow. In 1958 he became Head of Industrial Movements. One of its particular roles was collating information about wage rates. From then on, he made his mark on the union as a strategic thinker, who significantly modernised its internal structures.

Colleagues recognised that he had a powerful intellect. He was widely read, a voracious reader, and fluent in Irish and French. He furthered his education with a Diploma in Industrial Engineering from Columbia University, New York.

While a major public figure, often speaking in the media, he was an intensely private man. In a time when heavy drinking was part of the culture of the trade union movement, his nickname was ‘One Bottle’ because that was all he usually drank. He believed in keeping fit, doing his best to walk five miles every day.

He was sceptical of the system of ‘check-off’, under which employers deduct union dues at source. He believed it caused unions to lose contact with members. True to his belief, to the end he insisted on paying his dues personally, in cash.

He is survived by his daughter, Brenda; son, John; and sister, Frances. He was predeceased by his wife, Kitty.