Gormley of Ashton-in-Makerfield, Joseph Gormley

▪ 1994

      BARON, British labour leader (b. July 5, 1917, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Lancashire, England—d. May 27, 1993, Wigan, Greater Manchester, England), was the president (1971-82) of the National Union of Mineworkers; he guided the NUM through two national strikes (1972 and 1974), the second of which led to the collapse of Prime Minister Edward Heath's Conservative government. Gormley was born into a coal-mining family and went down into the pit at age 14. He was elected to the NUM's national executive committee in 1957, and four years later he was named general secretary of the Lancashire area. After losing in his bid to become national secretary, he was elected president in 1971 and promptly redirected the union to consolidate more power in that office. Although he privately opposed the strike votes in 1972 and 1974, Gormley proved to be a tough negotiator and a wily leader, securing higher wages for the miners while staving off challenges by more radical rivals within the union. In 1981 he forced Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's government to back down on plans to close nearly two dozen pits. Gormley was also a longtime member of the Labour Party's national executive committee (1963-73) and of the Trades Union Congress general council (1973-80). He was made a life peer in 1982.

* * *