Mick McGahey - a product of his class and the movement

Michael "Mick" McGahey (29 May 1925 -- 30 January 1999)
was a Scottish miners' leader and life-long Communist, with a distinctive gravelly voice.
He described himself as "a product of my class and my movement".

He started work at age 14 at the Gateside Colliery, and continued to work as a miner for the next 25 years.
He followed his father into the Communist Party and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), remaining a member of both the Communist Party, until its dissolution in 1990, and the NUM, all his life.

He became chairman of the local branch of his union when he was only eighteen and thereafter progressed through its echelons, though never quite reaching the national presidency.
He was elected to the Scottish Executive of the NUM in 1958, becoming president of the Scottish area in 1967.

He married Catherine Young in 1954 with whom he had two daughters and a son.
A significant memorial, in the form of mine workings, stands to him at the east end of Cambuslang Main Street and there have been calls in the Scottish Parliament for a more national memorial.

Last picture -
Maggie Hambling's portrait of Michael 'Mick' McGahey shows the retired union leader sitting in front of a banner given to Scottish miners by their Russian counterparts in 1929.

McGahey, who went down the pits at fourteen, was a life-long member of the Communist party and a staunch defender of the mining communities.

President of the Scottish Area, and Vice-President of the National Union of Mineworkers, he led the Scottish miners during the disputes of the 1970s and 1980s, culminating in the bitter strike of 1984.


National Union of Mineworkers (Great Britain)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Union_of_Mineworkers_(Great_Britain)

Music:
Jimmy Barnes - Working Class Man
James Dixon Swan (born 28 April 1956), better known as Jimmy Barnes, is a Scottish-born Australian rock singer-songwriter.
http://www.jimmybarnes.com/

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Category:

Education

Tags:

• Mick
• McGahey
• Jimmy
• Barnes
• Working Class Man
• NUM

[TheVivascargill]

a fitting tribute to a hero!!

[vivascargill1]

oh thanks to comrade solidarite2010 the video itself is a victory for the working class