Leo Crawford

Leo Crawford (1903 – May 1973) was an Irish trade unionist.

Leo Crawford
Born1903
Dublin, Ireland
DiedMay 1973
OccupationTrade unionist

Born in Dublin, Crawford was educated at a Christian Brothers school. He left at 15 to become a plasterer and joined the Operative Plasterers Trades Society. The following year, his union undertook a lengthy strike; unable to support himself, he emigrated to England to find work until the strike was over.[1]

Crawford spent a further period in England in the mid-1920s, but by the 1930s was back in Ireland and became increasingly prominent in the trade union movement. He became a full-time official, and served as President of the Dublin Council of Trade Unions in 1939. In the same year, he was elected as President of the Operative Plasterers, serving for ten years. This union was a founder member of the Congress of Irish Unions, and Crawford served as its Secretary from 1946. In this role, he negotiated a merger between it and the rival Irish Trades Union Congress, the two amalgamating in 1959 to form the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU). He stood for election to the Seanad Éireann in 1951, but was not successful.[1]

Crawford was joint secretary of the ICTU until his retirement in 1966.[1]

References

  1. "Death of Mr. Leo Crawford", Irish Times, 23 May 1973, p.15
Trade union offices
Preceded by
Cathal O'Shannon
General Secretary of the Congress of Irish Unions
1946–1959
Succeeded by
Position abolished
Preceded by
James Larkin Jnr
General Secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions
1959–1966
With: Ruaidhri Roberts
Succeeded by
Ruaidhri Roberts


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