Sean McGovern – a trade union champion
for disabled people
https://markwritecouk.files/wordpress.com/2022/06/sean-mcgovern-booklet-final-print-june-2022.pdf
FOREWORD BY JIM MOWATT
The main tutorial room in the Unite
National Education Centre in Birmingham is dedicated to Sean McGovern – that
alone is testament to the high regard (and affection) with which our Union’s
members held Sean McGovern.
And Sean was not, as you will discover in
this excellent account of Sean’s life, only a great trade unionist, he was
additionally a very successful campaigner for disabled peoples’ rights and a
formidable political operator. Perhaps Sean’s most significant contribution was
his ability to integrate different strands into coherent campaigning; and to do
all that with integrity and courage.
Mark Metcalf brings to life the
contrasting fortunes which impacted on Sean and the triumphs which Sean
achieved. As with other women and men about whom we have written in this series
of Unite booklets, Sean McGovern was a very effective leader; by definition he
had tons of followers – I was one of them!
You’ll hear from other followers from a
wide variety of organisations in this booklet. Such was the variety of
activities, organisations campaign groups and individuals that he genuinely
supported that the cover of this booklet ought to be a modernised version of a
Pieter Bruegel the Elder landscape as there was so much going on simultaneously
in Sean’s colourful life. For not only was Sean very well read (donating his
extensive library to the union), he was a dedicated follower of fashion from
his expensive footwear to his scarves and headgear.
As Sean McGovern (1957-2020) was a unique
character it is entirely appropriate that this first ever booklet on a disabled
trade unionist is about him. This work follows a very simple format in that it
consists of Sean’s own words accompanied by interviews with some of his family
and great friends. Thank you and congratulations to the author, Mark Metcalf,
for crafting this booklet and bringing Sean to the attention of the next
generation of activists. Sean is an inspiration.
In solidarity Jim Mowatt Unite the union
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