Lawrence Daly

Vocation

Scottish coal miner, trade unionist and political activist, at the age of 15, Lawrence Daly began work as a miner at Glencraig Colliery. He was soon active in the Scottish Mineworkers' Union (NUM). His initial involvement was in the labour movement's youth wing; amongst other activities he represented the British Trades Union Congress (TUC) on an international youth delegation to Moscow in 1945. He held a variety of offices in the Glencraig NUM Branch, probably the most important for an aspiring activist was his ten years as Workman's Inspector, an appointment provided for under the coal mines safety legislation. He rose through the NUM ranks. He was elected to the National Union of Mineworkers Scottish Area Executive Committee in 1962, became the full-time agent for the Fife, Clackmannan and Stirling District a year later, and then General Secretary of the Scottish Area NUM in 1965. Daly was part of the movement in the mid-1960s for the abolition of piecework at the coalface, and its replacement by a national day wage structure— the National Power Loading Agreement (NPLA) of 1966. In 1968, Daly was elected General Secretary of the NUM, and following what had by then almost become a tradition in the NUM, worked with two moderate Presidents, Sidney Ford and Joe Gormley. He steered the union through two major strikes in 1972 and 1974. Daly sustained a serious injury in a road accident in 1975, and had prolonged leave of absence following it. He died on 23 May 2009. Link to Wikipedia biography