Career
Born and brought up in Bamber Bridge, Lancashire, he started work at age 12 in the local cotton mill. He became, in 1924, an official of the Bamber Bridge and District Weavers" Union. He was also active in the Independent Labour Party and the Labour Party.
Having distinguished himself at undergraduate and postgraduate level, and following two years in the civil service, Woodcock joined the Trades Union Congress in 1936 as head of the research and economic department.
Here, Woodcock was much influenced by leading moderates in the trade union movement, such as Walter Citrine and Ernest Bevin, and also by the economic ideas of John Maynard Keynes. In 1947 he became the Trades Union Congress"s Assistant General Secretary and in 1960, was appointed General Secretary, serving in that position until 1969.
In 1970 Woodcock was a candidate for the Chancellorship of the University of Kent at Canterbury, but lost to Jo Grimond.