Tommy Campbell, Chair of Aberdeen and District Unite Retired Members' Branch and a delegate to the ATUC, made the following moving tribute to ATUC member and stalwart trade unionist, Ron Webster at his funeral today.
"At the young age of 14 Ron joined the Amalgamated Society of Woodworkers in 1941 when he started his joinery apprenticeship. He was an integral part of the Second World War effort during his apprenticeship working on parts for the RAF’s Wellington bombers.
His apprenticeship was stalled
when he enlisted with the Gordon Highlanders in 1945. After Ron completed his
National Service, he returned to his apprenticeship working on the Trams
in Aberdeen.
He continued working on the
Trams until they were decommissioned in 1958 by the Aberdeen bus
corporation.
His membership of the Amalgamated
Society of Woodworkers then transferred to the National Union of Vehicle Builders and
Ron continued in his role as an elected shop steward and a
Union branch official of the National Union of Vehicle Builders.
He continued in these roles
following the merger of the National Union of Vehicle Builders with the
Transport and General Workers Union in 1972.
Ron also served as the local NUVB
delegate on the TGWU Grampian and Northern Isles District Committee, the TGWU
Scottish Regional Automotive Trade Group. The District Committee also elected
him to the Scottish Regional Committee representing Union members
interests from all over Scotland.
In addition to his T&G positions Ron was elected as the Secretary of Aberdeen Trades Council and in turn elected as the representative of all Scottish Trades Councils onto the Executive Council of the STUC.
Ron was held in such high
regards by the STUC’s affiliated Trade Unions and Trades Councils that he was
elected the President of the STUC in 1989.
During his tenure as President
of the STUC Ron proudly led a march of tens of thousands through Edinburgh’s
city centre calling for an end to the spiteful poll-tax introduced by Margaret Thatcher’s
Conservative Government.
In Aberdeen whether it be the
ATUC’s annual May Day March or the St Andrew’s Day March Ron was always there
leading those marches down Union Street too.
He always supported workers during
their industrial disputes whether that was in Aberdeen, elsewhere in Scotland.
He ensured that their appeals
for financial support and solidarity were widely circulated throughout the
Trade Union branches affiliated to the Aberdeen Trades Council.
A quick glimpse through the
Trades Council’s annual reports and you will find that Ron along
with others was on the frontline of providing support and solidarity to the
many local and national industrial disputes.
In more recent times when l
visited him at home, he always wanted to be kept up to date with the current
industrial disputes and always asked that l convey his support and solidarity
when l visited the picket lines.
Ron along with other ATUC
delegates provided support for international solidarity campaigns around our
world especially where Trade Unionists were subject to persecution,
imprisonment and execution whilst campaigning for workers and human rights.
He supported the International
Brigades Memorial Trust and was very proud that both the City Council and ATUC
honoured his fellow Aberdonians who had joined the International Brigades to
oppose fascism in Spain.
He always promoted Hope over
Hate and this was a quality that came easily to Ron as he truly
believed that there was only one race – that is the human race because he
recognised we are all Jock Tamson’s bairns.
So it should come as no surprise
that he also actively opposed the racist apartheid regime of South Africa and
in that regard he was very proud that Aberdeen District Council awarded the
Freedom of the City to Winnie and Nelson Mandela. He was proud to have met with
Nelson Mandela when he visited Scotland in 1993 to receive that award..
After his retirement from
Firstbus Ron remained a delegate to the Aberdeen Trades Council representing his
Retired Union members branch. He regularly attended his Union branch meetings
and was in attendance at our last meeting on the 12th June.
Ron played a full and active
part in the Scottish Trade Union Movement and he was honoured
for that at the STUC Conference in Aberdeen last year for his 80 years of
active trade union membership.
Ron was a true gentleman who
always treated everybody with dignity and respect.
It is a true reflection of his good character that the many people who knew him are very upset at his death.
We will honour his lifetime of trade union activity by continuing to organise and campaign to improve the lives of everyone whether in the workplace or in the wider community.
So on this very sad occasion we salute Ron Webster as he was a true working- class hero and stalwart of the Scottish Trade Union Movement.
We express our deepest sympathy to
Ron’s family and his friends for the sad loss of such a lovely man who was
highly respected by all those who have ever had the pleasure of
meeting him.