Bob Crow: Socialist, Leader, Fighter: A Political Biography
Gregor Gall
Abstract
Bob Crow was not only the most well-known union leader of his generation but also the most militant. This biography examines his leadership of the RMT union, examining and exposing a number of popular myths created about him by political opponents. Using the schema of his personal characteristics (including his public persona), his politics and the power of his members, it explains how and why he was able to punch above his weight in industrial relations and on the political stage, helping the small RMT union become as influential as many of its much larger counterparts.
Deploying an array of ... More
Bob Crow was not only the most well-known union leader of his generation but also the most militant. This biography examines his leadership of the RMT union, examining and exposing a number of popular myths created about him by political opponents. Using the schema of his personal characteristics (including his public persona), his politics and the power of his members, it explains how and why he was able to punch above his weight in industrial relations and on the political stage, helping the small RMT union become as influential as many of its much larger counterparts.
Deploying an array of source materials and a sympathetic but critical approach, the biography traces Crow’s industrial and political development from a working-class London family, with an influential communist father and early epiphany about unions, to his rise to national prominence within the RMT. His own membership of two particular far-left political parties did not prevent him becoming the undisputed leader of the left within the RMT. This was attributable to his forceful and larger-than-life personality.
Keywords:
Bob Crow,
Union leader,
Rail,
Maritime and Transport (RMT) union,
Socialism,
Communism,
Trade unionism
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2017 |
Print ISBN-13: 9781526100290 |
| Published to Manchester Scholarship Online: September 2017 |
DOI:10.7228/manchester/9781526100290.001.0001 |
