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Tony Dubbins former leader of the GPMU and Deputy General Secretary of Unite retires on 31st October.
Tony Dubbins has been a dominant figure in the Trade Union movement for over two generations.
Tony's stature has been built not simply by his reputation as a negotiator, but by his leadership during some of the crucial moments in modern trade union history, when he demonstrated the best attributes of strength, unity and solidarity.
Tony first became a full time union official in the National Graphical Association in the Chiltern & Thames Valley branch, before becoming the NGA’s Assistant General Secretary in the late 1970s. Tony succeeded Joe Wade as General Secretary of the NGA in 1984 and so has been a General Secretary for 24 years.
The early 1980's saw the start of the Thatcher attacks on the unions, and the print workers bore the brunt of these, with Tony at the forefront of the fight back.
In the Eddie Shah/Stockport Messenger dispute in Warrington, the new Tory laws were used for the first time against trade unions. During this dispute the NGA faced sequestration of its assets in defence of its members and he also lead the fight against Rupert Murdoch at Wapping. Tony led those battles and it is an irony that last month Wapping closed for the last time: Tony Dubbins has outlived it!
He was also hugely supportive of other unions. During the 1984-85 miners strike, the NGA, and Tony in particular, gave crucial assistance, a fact still acknowledged today by our brothers and sisters in the NUM.
In a precursor to later merger strategies, Tony brought together many of the smaller printing craft unions and then merged with SOGAT in 1990 to form one union for the graphical and paper trades. He won the subsequent election against Brenda Dean to become the first - and only - General Secretary of the GPMU.
He was President of the TUC in 1997 and is the longest serving member of the General Council and TUC Executive Committee, so much that if he didn't retire soon it would be his turn for President again!
His experiences in the print industry in the 1980's made him an expert on employment laws and at the TUC it became a tradition that Tony would always move the main motion, on employment rights.
He was also, a member of the ACAS Council as well as being the TUC's lead spokesperson on Training.
Tony promoted international trade unionism too. He was President of Uni Europa Graphical, a member of the European TUC Executive and helped build the International Graphical Federation to strengthen ties with sister unions throughout the world, but in particular in Scandinavia, Germany, Africa and North America.
He was instrumental in ensuring the union had a base in Brussels during the 1990s to lobby the European parliament and influence EU legislation and he developed a strong political base for the union in Westminster, developing a group of Labour MP's that ensured the union "punched above its weight".
He was a major figure within the printing industry, leading national pay campaigns in the late 1970s and in the early 1990s with the BPIF. He was the union's lead negotiator for many years with the British Printing Industries Federation, the Scottish Print Industries Federation and his support for improving print workers pay and conditions is legendary. He always listened to the views of members no matter where they worked, recognising that the bulk of the print unions' members worked in small and medium sized companies.
In addition he promoted the printing industry in particular, with his support for better learning & skills for members, the importance of unions maintaining an influences at all levels in the industry and was instrumental in setting up Vision In Print and the modernised national agreements.
Tony recognised that technological developments would effect print union members, and he worked tirelessly to reach new technology agreements with newspaper employers and other unions in particular - and following the election of a Labour Government in 1997, he worked to re-establish union recognition in the newspaper industry.
Following the GPMU's merger with Amicus in 2004 as Deputy General Secretary of the union he led the unions' political work through TULO, and building on the success of the Big 4 he held the trade unions together at Warwick prior to the 2005 General Election. He has been harrying the government ever since on delivery, and has been leading again on Warwick 2.
When Unite agreed to run a candidate in Labour's Deputy Leader election, it was Tony who came up with the name of Jon Cruddas and tirelessly promoted him across the unions and the party, almost securing victory but seeing off three cabinet ministers in the process.
Tony is a person to whom you always look to first for advice. He is a strategic thinker and negotiator as well as being a giant of the trade union movement, not only in the UK, but in Europe and the world. He provided leadership from the front - in the toughest of times. He has been a good friend to all our officers and members - a true comrade and an inspirational leader, and his retirement will leave a huge hole in our union and sister unions throughout the world.
Tony is also a keen West Ham supporter!
On behalf of all Unite members, officers and staff, print workers and the trade union movement we pay tribute to Tony Dubbins, we recognise with gratitude his achievements, wish him a long and happy retirement.
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