ONE of Glasgow's most popular trade unionists, Mrs Ina Love, bows out

from the TUC's general council today.

The former Stobhill hospital telephonist has served as a lay

representative on the movement's ruling body for eight years.

General secretary John Monks paid tribute to her for ensuring the

general council was always made aware of the particular difficulties of

the low paid, an apt testimony as the TUC agonised this week over how to

press for a minimum wage.

Born in 1928, in the thirties her father was put out of work and her

mother was forced to take various poorly paid jobs in order to care for

her and her three sisters.

In Brighton this week, she said that in her earlier years she was

mostly influenced by her grandfather, Mr Johnny Dinning, an old-time

trade unionist and Scottish socialist.

''His passion, compassion and ideals and belief in working people

stayed with me always,'' she said.

At 14, she went to work in the local meat market and then at 16 into

the Post Office where she became a telephonist and a member of the Union

of Post Office Workers.

She was in the WRAC for four and a half years.

In 1962 she joined the National Health Service through working as a

telephonist at Glasgow's Stobhill hospital where she was a superviser

until two years ago.

Over the past 33 years, Mrs Love held numerous posts as a lay member

in her union, Nupe, which recently joined with health union Coshe and

local government staff union Nalgo to form Unison.

Among the positions she held were that of the chairperson of the

Scottish TUC committee and Nupe executive member before becoming its

president in 1988-99.

''I hope I have carried forward the fight in the Scottish tradition --

it has not been about medals or badges -- but achievements on behalf of

working people,'' she said yesterday.