Background
Bill Morris was born in Manchester Parish, Jamaica. After the death of his father, William, a part-time policeman, his mother, Una, emigrated to England to find work settling in Handsworth, Birmingham.
- Photos
- Works
- Photos
- Works
Bill Manuel Morris
Edit ProfileGeneral Secretary politician functionary
Career
He was General Secretary of the Transport and General Workers" Union from 1992 to 2003, and the first black leader of a major British trade union. Morris joined her in the United Kingdom in 1954, finding work at a local car parts manufacturer, Hardy Spicer Engineering Limited. Morris married Minetta in 1957.
She died in 1990.
They have two sons. Morris joined the Transport and General Workers" Union in 1958, and became a shop steward in 1962. After serving on the Transport and General Workers' Union General Executive Council (General Electric Company) from 1972 to 1973, Bill Morris joined the union as a full-time official
He served as district officer of the Nottingham District from 1973 to 1976 and district secretary of the Northampton District from 1976 to 1979. In 1979, he became national secretary of the Passenger Services Trade Group, which was responsible for staff working for bus and coach companies.
He was elected deputy general secretary in 1986, working under general secretary Ron Todd.
Morris was elected general secretary when Ron Todd retired in 1992. He was re-elected in 1995, ahead of Jack Dromey. He remained in the post until his retirement on his 65th birthday, 19 October 2003, when he was succeeded as general secretary by Tony Woodley.
He was appointed a non-executive director of the Bank of England in 1998.
He was appointed as the first Chancellor of the University of Technology, Jamaica in 1999 and as Chancellor of Staffordshire University in 2004. He chaired the Morris Inquiry into professional standards in the Metropolitan Police in 2004.
He is also a patron of the Refugee Council. On 11 April 2006, it was announced that Morris would take a seat in the House of Lords as a working life peer, and he was gazetted as Baron Morris of Handsworth, of Handsworth in the County of West Midlands in June 2006.
He serves on the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights.
Morris is an independent non-executive Director of the England and Wales Cricket Board. In August 2014, Morris was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian opposing Scottish independence in the run-up to September"s referendum on that issue.
Achievements
Membership
Morris was a member of the Trades Union Congress General Council and Executive Committee from 1988 to 2003. He was also a member of the Royal Commission on the Reform of the House of Lords from 1999 to 2000. He is a member of the Board of Governors of London South Bank University, a Trustee of the Open University Foundation, and the member of the Courts of the University of Northampton and the University of Bedfordshire.
He has been a member of the advisory councils of the British Broadcasting Corporation and International Business Alliance and a Commissioner of the Commission for Racial Equality.
He sits as a member of the Employment Appeal Tribunal.
-
Born
-
Died
1990 (aged 51) -
Nationality
Jamaica -
Political Party
Labour Party