MEMORIES OF JOCK NICOLSON

RMTnews :: october 2007 :: www.rmt.org.uk 26 L ife-long socialist and trade union activist Jock Nicolson died recently at the age of 87. Jock was born in Hamilton, Lanarkshire in 1921 into a poor family of five siblings. The only holiday Jock remembered was a day trip with his Mum to the falls of Leni, near Callender in Ayrshire. On leaving school at fourteen Jock got a job as a laundry van boy for a short time before getting the sack and, by the time he followed his father and brother into the railways, he was already a political activist. Such was the impact of his experiences of poverty where porridge and whatever he could catch as a poacher would be the staple diet, he became acutely class-conscious. His first job on the railway was as a ‘Caller Up’ at Hamilton West Depot, a night shift which involved riding a bicycle waking up drivers and guards for early morning shifts. He joined the National Union of Railwaymen as it was then and became and remained an activist both at work and in retirement. The pay was not good but it was looked upon as a “job for life” which was considered important during the depression of the thirties. Jock was promoted to a Fireman shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War as railwayworkers were classed as vital and were exempt from call-up to the forces. He said there was little romance in being a Fireman as it was dirty, hard, manual work. During a shift he would shovel several tons of coal into the firebox of a steam engine while doubled up, twisting round every few seconds and standing on a moving floor and staggering like a drunk man when he stepped off the engine. By the time Jock was seventeen years old he was an ardent socialist, reading Kier Hardy, and Karl Marx, as well as poaching in High Parks which was the Duke of Hamilton’s estate. He attended Labour College classes and other political meetings. Hamilton at that time was a hot-bed of political groups such as the Labour Party, the Independent Labour Party, Socialist Party of Great Britain, as well as the Communist Party. Around that period the Spanish Civil War and the actions of Nazi Germany stirred political passion in Britain. After going to a meeting to an “Aid Spain” in Glasgow, Jock made his first political donation to the Spanish cause and joined the Communist Party. He later to became a CP organiser in Lanarkshire. At the end of World War Two, the political parties were getting ready of the famous 1945 Labour election victory and Jock was active in his NUR Hamilton branch getting members to sign up for the political fund.. In 1947 Jock moved to Fife to campaign to get the well- known Communist MP Willie Gallacher re-elected when the Cold War raised its head. Around this time, Jock was at a Communist Party school in Sussex; where he met Bridget and began a life-long relationship. Jock moved to London to be with Bridget and he joined the Chalk Farm branch of the union, and continued as an activist as a Goods and Cartage clerk in Chalk Farm depot. He also stood as a local Communist Party candidate in Camden, and the Holborn and St.Pancras Parliamentary Constituency twice. Jock was a well known orator on his soap box outside Kentish Town Station for many years, and was heavily involved in the famous Camden rent strikes in the sixties. Jock served two terms on the NUR National Executive during the 1970’s and was secretary of the influential North London District Council prior to the re- organisation of District Councils in the 80’s. Many activists felt that the leadership of the union at that time carried out this re- organisation to defuse the power of these Councils and the North London one in particular. Jock Nicolson was also a dedicated Father to Mark, Josie, Laura, and later grandfather and great grandfather to many of the Nicolson clan. Jock sometimes gave the impression of being a ‘hard line Communist’ and was a thorn in the flesh of any trade union leader, including the NUR, if they didn’t lead and defend workers. He was a great Socialist, Communist and humanist who believed and defended working people. Jock’s Memoirs “A Turbulent Life” is to be published soon. TONY DONAGHEY MEMORIES OF J