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 John Maher |
'Big John', trade unionist and man of principle
LABOURER and trade unionist John Maher was a “gentle giant” whose dedication to fellow workers took him far and wide.
He died on July 31 after a long illness, aged 81. He is survived by May, his wife of 46 years.
John was born in Cappamore, County Limerick, but came to London as a young man and settled in Kilburn. He married in 1960, on St Patrick’s Day, which, his widow May says, was typical of him.
He became a close friend to May’s two children from a previous marriage that had left her widowed.
In 1962, they were among the first to move into a new block of flats in Carlton Vale, Kilburn, which was to remain his home until his death.
May, 91, said: “We always took our tea and cake together at night and we were always genuine to each other.”
John, also known as Lowery, worked on building sites most of his life and was Kilburn branch secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU) for more than 30 years.
For several years he was employed by Camden Council, where he made many long-term friends.
Jamie Ritchie, who worked with him in Camden’s direct works department, where John was a shop steward until he retired, described him as “a man of principle”, who “believed the world should be fair”.
According to another union comrade, Ian McDeson, John’s popularity was such that after retirement his first pint of Guinness was free for life at Camden Workers Club in Lyndhurst Hall, where he was the first to have a pint on the club’s inauguration.
An Irishman who believed in a united Ireland and a Communist who believed in international solidarity and peace, ‘Big John’ was as likely to be at the annual Bloody Sunday marches as protests against the Vietnam war, nuclear power, the Iraq wars or NHS cuts. He also campaigned over construction workers’ deaths.
But many of his greatest battles were fought on his doorstep. Mr Ritchie met him on the picket line at the infamous Grunwick strike in Willesden in the 1970s, where they backed underpaid Asian women workers. He explained: “John, characteristically, was there to support them long before the dispute was famous.”
John had a particular aversion to seeing others sneaking past the picket line. Mr Ritchie said: “The natural sunshine of John’s disposition would turn to hailstones and his voice to a menacing rasp.
“I never met anybody who could infuse so much anger and contempt in one word as John when he said ‘scab’.”
Vic Heath, a friend for more than 40 years, recalled a topping-out ceremony at a Barbican tower block in the City in 1968.
He said: “Normally, the directors climb onto the highest point and have a glass of wine. As usual the flags were laid out the night before. They had a St George’s, the Union Jack and the City of London Corporation flag. But when they hoisted up the flags it was the Irish green, white and gold that went up instead of the Union Jack.
“There wasn’t much doubt who was behind it. The Irish workers loved it, of course. John was extraordinary. He was about 6ft 6in with hands like shovels but he was a gentle man.”
He worked to set up the Joint Sites Committee and the Liaison Committee for the Defence of Trade Unions which campaigned against the 1971 Industrial Relations Act. |
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