Obituary - John Langan, trade unionist

Died: December 16, 2016

JOHN Langan, who has died aged 91, was a trade unionist and socialist who became a leading and influential figure during the years of great industrial upheaval in the 1980s.

He was born at No 1 Maclean Buildings in Greenock during The Great Depression years when his father, who worked in the shipyards, experienced many periods of long unemployment. The family house was a political one and the whole experience of these difficult years was to leave an indelible impression on the young John and influenced his thinking his whole life.

His was tipped for a university education, but this all changed when a teacher broke his watch and he was wrongly punished for a disciplinary incident. This created an atmosphere where he felt he could not continue at school. He chose to leave, study at home, and secured an apprenticeship at the Greenock Torpedo Factory where he came under the influence of a first class tradesman called Ernie Davidson, who was also the branch secretary of the Coppersmiths Union and recognised his apprentice's strong leanings to union affairs. By 1956 John Langan was the youngest ever secretary of the Scottish Coppersmiths Union.

In this capacity Mr Langan enhanced his reputation in wider sections of the trade union movement and when ASSET, a staff union led by the charismatic Welshman Clive Jenkins, was looking for a full-time Scotland official in 1965 they approached John Langan for the job.

When appointed, the union had around 3000 members in Scotland – and when Mr Langan retired some 10 years later membership had risen to over 30,000, with a staff of 12 and a second office in Aberdeen.

By 1974 he was elected to the General Council of the STUC and served on numerous committees. From1983-1984 he chaired the STUC and the Congress in 1984 at Aberdeen. His period of chairmanship coincided with a period of significant industrial upheaval as the trade unions fought for Ravenscraig and Scott Lithgow; there was also the miners' strike. During this period he led no fewer than four delegations to meet then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, two to Downing Street and two in Glasgow.

His friend and colleague Ian Fulton said Mr Langan was perhaps the most exceptional trade union negotiator, thinker and innovator of his peers during what was to become a period of substantive change for the trade union and Labour movement.

To compliment his negotiating skills, John Langan was a great thinker and innovator, and was the first to encourage and develop a good working relationship with the powerful and formidable Scottish Engineering Employers Association. This approach was an absolute revolution in industrial relations and facilitated the growth of white collar collective bargaining within federated companies in Scotland (and eventually, the UK).

Of course, there was another side to John Langan – he was a very good footballer and as captain led St Mungo’s to the championship and made history by winning the Dioceses’ Cup the first time it was won by a non Glasgow side.

He was also attracting the attention of senior football clubs including Celtic, Morton and Wolverhampton. Indeed Morton made great efforts to sign him and actually had him training at Cappielow. However his heart was set on signing for Celtic but before he could actually sign he was called up to the Navy and served in the Far East with the Special Running Repair Division.

John Langan was married to the late Margaret Egan, and is survived by his daughter Lesley, her husband and son.