by Alan Johnson
Steinbeck, John 143
Stevens, Cat 127
Stewart, James 7
Stock, Dave, Slough UPW 153–5, 193, 196, 214, 219, 225, 235, 240, 243, 266–7, 268, 281
Stonehouse, John 85
student Christmas casuals 35, 137–8
Styles, Jean 257–8
Styles, Maurice, UCW outdoor secretary 256, 257–8, 275–6, 279, 289–90, 304
subscriber trunk dialling (STD) 92
Sullivan, John 199–200
Sun pub, Barnes Green 35
Supertramp 237
Suzie (Nan’s dog), AJ walking 33
Syer, Mary (Nan, Judy’s grandmother) 8, 18–19, 21, 35, 38, 45, 55, 125
Syms, Sylvia 22
T Rex, ‘Ride a White Swan’ 93
Taylor, Jack (NUM Yorkshire) 292
Taylor, John
LDC UPW leader 156–7, 221, 263, 275, 278
and Cockburn 302
and Improved Working Methods agreement 246–7, 262–3, 264
on compulsory retirement 157
on national officers’ re-election 168–9
supports Cricklewood postmen 223–4
outdoor secretary 1983 289–90, 303
and Northern Ireland 309–10
drinking problem 301, 308–9
medical retirement 309–10
telegram boys, motorbikes 76
telephone directories, delivery 29
telephone engineers 84
telephonists
and 1971 strike 92–3
gender rules 84
10 Rillington Place 33
Tesco, AJ and 14, 29
Thatcher, Margaret, 1979 election win 237, 242
Thatcher government
anti-union legislation 283, 288, 306
policies, effects 270
privatization programme 292–3
Thomas, Dave 198
Thomas, Dylan 104, 117
Collected Poems 104, 114
Thomson, Brian 310
and Preston dispute 303–4
Thornton, Frank 22
Thurso 300
Ticket, Rose 225, 240
Tillicoultry 170
Times, The, AJ reads 20, 41, 46, 219
Tobin, John, Slough station postman 197
trade unions
and national officers’ re-election 168–9, 283
necessity 29
Thatcher government and 283, 288
Trades Union Congress (TUC)
booklet, Working with Figures 262
conferences, NUM leaders and 292
correspondence courses 170
trade-union movement, role 153
Traffic 88
Trevelyan, Andy 26–7
Tribune group 243
Tring, Linda and Mike move to 45
Trotskyists 146
Trumpton 77, 128
Tuffin, Alan, UCW 259, 266, 275, 304, 308, 309
and negotiation 293
and no-confidence vote 288
and Ron Dearing 289
succeeds Jackson 283–4
Turner, Mr, delivery patrol officer 23
2i’s coffee bar 253
UCW House, AJ at 283–4
working at 250–1, 254–60
workmates 256–60
Union of Communication Workers (UCW; former UPW) 28–9, 242–50
executive, AJ and
and conference speeches 227–8
elected 1981 240–1
first meeting 244
acting outdoor secretary 309–10
elected outdoor secretary 310
employed by 310
members, duties 241
not standing for 212, 218–26
standing for 226, 227–8
stands as organizing secretary 304–5
stands as outdoor secretary 1983 289–90
travelling 298–300
first flights 254–5, 281
and anti-apartheid boycott 171–2, 213
and BT privatization 291
and compulsory retirement at 60 157–9
and Grunwick mail 222–4
and IWM 294–5
and national officers re-election 168–9, 283
and part-time staff 293–4
and ‘safeguarding future’ agreement 293–5, 301
and Willoughby dismissal 265–9
and YTS 307–8
annual conferences
1976 154–60
1977 213
incremental wage scales debate 214–15
1978 224–6
1981, AJ elected to executive 240–1
basic pay rise claim 86–7, 89–108
Branch Official’s Guide 151
hardship fund 94–5
Humber Snipe 275–6
Hyde Park rallies 93, 101, 105
industrial action, and ‘wilfully delaying mail’ 223–4
Improved Working Methods agreement (IWM) 246–50
AJ and 248–50, 254–64, 279–80
school for postal EC members 280
LDC defies executive; supports Cricklewood postmen 223–4
members, benefits 153–4
Northern Ireland District Council 281–3
overseas telegraph officers (OTO), strike in support of 43–4
Post Office strike 1971 89–107
return to work ballot 106–7
rules revision conference 1976 166–9
token stoppage 1970 85
training schools 170
Union of Post Office Workers see Union of Communication Workers
UPW Friendly Society 153
UPW Insurance Society 28
UPW Slough, AJ and 195–7, 220
and TUC correspondence courses 170–1
at union induction school 171
elected chairman 148–52
and members’ concerns 195–7
on UPW postmen’s committee 142
picket duty 101
rejects ‘facility time’ for union work 195, 196
reorganizes 152–3
university, working-class people and 79
unrest/demonstrations 1968 19–20
Upper Clyde Shipbuilders 143–4
Vietnam War 143
Walsh, Derek 221, 222, 308, 310
and Cockburn 302
and IWM agreement 246–7, 262–3, 264
and Taylor 290
supports Cricklewood postmen 223–4
Wandsworth Delivery Office, overtime at 32–3
Ward, George, Grunwick dispute 222–3
Warrenfield Comprehensive 233–5
Weedon, Bert, Play in a Day 295
West, Timothy 22
Whitaker, Dean Byron (Linda’s & Mike’s son) 125, 253, 286
Whitaker, Irene (Mike’s mother) 10–11, 185, 188–9, 191
Whitaker, Linda (AJ’s sister) 2, 3, 6, 8–9, 10
after 1979 see Edwards, Linda
missing Lily 10, 11–12
on AJ & Judy engagement 9–10, 12
on Natalie’s back story 71
and driving 215
and Mike
foster children 176–8, 181–2
Mike’s alcoholism 182–94
move to Tring 45
visiting 45–7, 125, 176
and Nexus 229–30
and Shelter 125
and Steve Johnson (Linda’s & AJ’s father) 179–80, 188
chosen as ‘Luton Supermum’ 178
Mike’s death aftermath 215–18
non-smoking 236–7
Whitaker, Mike (AJ’s brother-in-law) 1, 3–5
alcoholism 182–94, 235–6
and AJ’s guitar 136–7
and Henry’s Radios 4, 136, 180, 184–5, 189
and Ricky & Murray 181–2
Christmas Eve 1967 5–8
depressed 180–1
seeking local work 184–5
suicide 190–4
working-class Conservative 46–7, 83
Whitaker, Renay (Linda’s & Mik
e’s daughter) 45, 178, 185, 186, 187, 253, 286
Whitaker, Tara (Linda’s & Mike’s daughter) 67, 178, 186, 253, 286
Whitaker, Ted (Mike’s father) 188–9, 191
Whitley Councils 133
Whitley, J. H., House of Commons Speaker 132–3
‘Who’s Sorry Now?’ 113
Wigan UCS, and Postal Cadet Scheme 307–8
Wilberforce estate, Battersea (Linda’s & AJ’s flat) 8
Williams, Shirley, housing speech 125
Willoughby, Bill, WDO branch chairman, dismissal 265–9
Wilson, Harold 82, 83
government 142–3
Mike on 46
Wiltshire, Andrew 20, 50, 61, 193, 295–7
as Post Office van driver 53
at BPDO 31–4, 36, 39
brain tumour; death 296–7
Wiltshire, Ann 31–3, 39–40, 295–7
home-seeking 125–7
visiting 125
wedding plans 39–40
Wiltshire, Simone 126–7
Wiltshire, Toby 126, 295
Winter of Discontent 238, 244
Winwood, Stevie 88
Wogan, Terry 130, 207
women workers
civil-service marriage bar 259
HGV drivers 221
no telephone engineers 84
none in sorting office 84
UPW and part-time staff 293–4
Woolley, Reg 133–4
Workers’ Revolutionary Party, News Line 144–6
Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook 47
Yeats, W. B. 174
Yorkshire miners, support Cricklewood postmen 223
Young, Jimmy 93
Young, Ken (PO personnel director) 247
and UCW 289
and negotiation 293
Young, Neil 127
Youth Training Scheme, UCW and 307
Also by Alan Johnson
This Boy
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