Fisher, Alan

▪ British labour leader

born June 20, 1922, Birmingham, Warwickshire [now West Midlands], Eng.

died March 20, 1988, Gwynedd county, Wales

      British labour leader, general secretary of the National Union of Public Employees (NUPE) who improved pay for workers in local government, sanitation and sewage, and the National Health Service.

      Fisher left secondary school in 1939 to join the local office of NUPE as a junior clerk, later becoming a district organizer (1953) and general secretary (1968–82). Under his leadership, membership grew from 150,000 to more than 700,000, making NUPE the fifth largest union in the Trades Union Congress. He was known as a fiery speaker and a well-organized strategist who planned the “dirty jobs” strike of 1971 and made controversial appointments. He presided over the 1978–79 “winter of discontent,” when NUPE staged a series of disruptive strikes in an attempt to force the government to increase earnings beyond the 5 percent limit that had been established in July 1978.

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