A Tribute to Tom Burlison
On Monday 2nd June I attended the funeral of Tom Burlison. Tom had died at the age of 71 after a lifetime’s service to the Trade Union and Labour movement. I first met Tom thirty years earlier, when he was the newly elected Regional Secretary of the General and Municipal Worker’s Union, and I was applying for the job of the Union’s regional research officer. I worked for Tom, and for the GMWU, before being elected to Parliament in 1983.
Tom’s leadership of the Union in the North East of England set in train a series of events that have an important impact on the public life of our region today. Tom took forward pioneering cases in the field of industrial injuries and in particular for the victims of industrial deafness, vibration white finger and asbestos-related diseases. He also, together with John Edmonds, negotiated the pioneering industry agreement with British Nuclear Fuels, an agreement that still stands the test of time today.
Tom was a shrewd and careful negotiator. His well-thought through and reflective approach to industrial relations was well-judged for the times and did a great deal to take the sting out of the worst effects of Thatcherism on the economy of the North East of England. Along with the then Regional Secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union Joe Mills, Tom was a constructive and stabilising influence on the regional Labour Party.
He had the strength of character and sense of purpose not to compromise with the Trotskyite hard left who were doing their best to destroy the Labour Party in the 1980s. He also supported and encouraged younger people in the Union and in politics; myself, Alan Donnelly, Doug Henderson, and later Kevan Jones and Dari Taylor, all owe a debt of gratitude to Tom and the GMB for the support that we have been given over the years for the political causes we have taken up.
Tom saw very clearly the importance of the link between the Trade Union movement and the Labour Party, and understood probably better than anyone else I know the responsibilities placed on everyone involved. Tom had a tremendous affection for the North East, for its football, for its countryside, and for its working people. His substantial achievements are a fitting and enduring legacy.