ROOM FOR AN ACCOLADE
On Saturday 3rd December 2016 a surprise ceremony was held to name our North West and Irish regional office education department in Liverpool after Regional President Dougie Henry. Regional Secretary Paul McCarthy said ‘This is well deserved for a very passionate and respected member of the GMB.’
Through his involvement with GMB Dougie’s been on training courses himself over the years and was also a training officer with the TA. He likes to pass on the knowledge and experience he has and always attends the last day of new stewards’ induction courses in what’s now called ‘The Dougie Henry Education Suite’, where he listens to all the presentations and gives talks about the importance of working in a safe environment and the power that Unions have. He also chairs and speaks at NW&I conferences and still serves as a branch officer representing members.
Asked about the naming ceremony Dougie said ‘I was a bit flabbergasted – I was told I was going to the museum and Mr McCarthy conned me’. He didn’t know his grandson Darren, wife Sylviane and great granddaughter Marie had travelled from France to attend, and when the GMB officers, reps, members and staff who had gathered for the occasion revealed his family sitting behind the standing crowd – quelle surprise!
Dougie has been a GMB member since April 1956 when he joined as a bus conductor. He was a shop steward with the General Municipal Workers Union (GMWU) in the 60s and 70s for the Health Service, becoming a branch secretary with responsibility for 9 hospitals from 1979 - including the Royal Liverpool University Hospital. His job was setting up operating theatres which he also did during his 44 years’ service with the Territorial Army. Serving as a Health and Safety officer in the NHS for years, Dougie had a particular responsibility for making sure staff worked in asbestos-free environments.
Liverpool’s Alder Hey was another of Dougie’s hospitals and since Zoe’s Place was set up for terminally ill children 15 years’ ago, he’s raised thousands of pounds for the charity. ‘As a region we also look after Belfast Children’s hospice,’ he said.
Dougie is still passionate about saving the NHS and urges that we all get active right now in fighting to keep it! He remembers when he formed a group called Liverpool TUC Affiliates with NUPE, COHSE, EPTU and UCATT, keeping Thatcher’s private contractors at bay for four years until the Health Authority was dissolved in 1991. Dougie’s association with Regional Secretary Paul McCarthy goes back to 1981 when a group headed by current National President, Mary Turner, was touring around the country trying to stop Thatcher.
It was a heartwarming and inspiring afternoon which included a Chinese meal at the Chung Ku. Regional president since 2005, Dougie said ‘I’m grateful for the service I’ve had from the Union over the years and that’s why I like to give knowledge back because it’s important to make sure workers work in a safe environment and I’m proud to have been a GMB member for 60 years.’ He was presented with a GMB gold medal for his service.
by Caroline Keen
