Walter Stevens (trade unionist)

Walter C. Stevens (1904 – 24 October 1954), often known as Wally Stevens, was a British trade unionist.

Born in Woolwich, Stevens began working at the age of ten, and completed an apprenticeship as an electrician by the age of twenty. He soon became a sound engineer at Denham Studios, and was also active in the Electrical Trades Union (ETU).^[1]

Stevens became a full-time employee of the ETU in his thirties, serving for a while as the union's London Area Secretary, and in 1942 he was elected as Assistant General Secretary.^[1] Around 1946, he joined the Communist Party of Great Britain and, in 1948, he became General Secretary of the ETU.^[2] He won a landslide victory, with more than three times the votes of his opponent.^[3]

In office, Stevens moved the union in a more militant direction, organising a wave of strikes in late 1953 and early 1954.^[3]

In his spare time, Stevens enjoyed attending boxing matches, and he was involved in founding the Professional Boxers' Association.^[1] He stood in the 1952 and 1953 elections for the General Council of the Trades Union Congress, but was unsuccessful.^[3]

Stevens was seriously injured in a car accident in October 1954, and died a week later.^[3]

References

1. 1 2 3 Graham Stevenson, "Stevens, Wally", Compendium of Communist Biography
2. ↑ "Communists in the unions", Manchester Guardian, 13 January 1948
3. 1 2 3 4 "Obituary: Mr Walter C. Stevens", Manchester Guardian, 25 October 1954