Walter Stevens (trade unionist)

Walter Charles Stevens (26 September 1904 – 24 October 1954) was a British trade union leader.

Born in Woolwich, Stevens began working at the age of ten, and completed an apprenticeship as an electrician by age twenty. He soon became a sound engineer at Denham Studios, and was also active in the Electrical Trades Union (ETU).[1]

By the time he reached his thirties, Stevens was a full-time union official in the ETU. He served for a while as London Area Secretary, and in 1942 was elected Assistant General Secretary.[1] In 1946 he joined the Communist Party of Great Britain. Two years later he was elected General Secretary of the ETU.[2] It was a landslide victory, with more than three times the vote total of his opponent.[3]

During his tenure in office, Stevens moved the union in a more militant direction. He organised a wave of strikes in late 1953 and early 1954.[3]

In his spare time, Stevens enjoyed attending boxing matches, and was involved in founding the Professional Boxers' Association.[1] He stood in the 1952 and 1953 elections for the General Council of the Trades Union Congress, but was unsuccessful.[3]

Walter Stevens died on 24 October 1954, as a result of injuries sustained in a car accident a week earlier. He was 50.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Stevens Wally". Encyclopedia of Communist Biographies. Graham Stevenson. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017.
  2. ↑ "Communists in the unions", Manchester Guardian, 13 January 1948
  3. 1 2 3 "Obituary: Mr Walter C. Stevens", Manchester Guardian, 25 October 1954
  4. ↑ "He Led the Guerrilla Strikes". Daily Mirror. 25 October 1954. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
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