Bob Garland

{{Short description|Scottish trade unionist}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}}

{{Use British English|date=April 2018}}

Robert Baxter Garland (21 March 1920 – 2004)England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007 was a Scottish trade unionist.

Born in Glasgow, Garland completed an apprenticeship as an iron moulder, and became an activist in the Amalgamated Union of Foundry Workers (AUFW). He took evening classes with the University of Glasgow before winning a Trades Union Congress scholarship to attend the London School of Economics."R. Garland", Foundry Trade Journal, vol.139, p.631

After completing a degree, Garland returned to moulding, now with Harland & Wolff in Govan, where he soon became the works convener. He ran for the general secretaryship of the union in 1954 on an anti-communist platform, but was narrowly defeated, taking 17,694 votes to incumbent Jim Gardner's 18,546.H. J. Fyrth and Henry Collins, The Foundry Workers: a trade union history, p.4 He was elected as the union's full-time national organiser in 1956, but his opponent, F. Bullock, had the vote annulled by the courts on account of outside interference. The vote was re-run, and Garland won again, taking up the position in 1957."Union's election declared void", The Guardian, 17 January 1957"Majority increased", The Guardian, 19 July 1957

Garland stood again for the general secretaryship in 1961, but lost to David Lambert by a 4,000-vote margin."Novelist is union secretary", The Times, 29 March 1961 In 1962, he was sentenced to three months in prison for driving while intoxicated, but this was commuted to a £100 fine after Jim Callaghan argued that he was the best-placed person to advise the Somali government on trade unionism."£100 fine instead of prison", The Guardian, 21 March 1962

In 1967, the AUFW merged with the Amalgamated Engineering Union to form the "Amalgamated Union of Engineering and Foundry Workers", soon renamed that Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers. A distinct Foundry Section was created, with William Simpson, former general secretary of the AUFW, continuing as general secretary of the Foundry Section.Chris Cook, The Routledge Guide to British Political Archives: Sources since 1945, pp.223-224 Garland was elected to the section's executive council in 1968, and as president in 1970.

Simpson resigned in 1974 to become chairman of the Health and Safety Commission, and Garland was elected to fill his post, beating a single opponent by 19,000 votes to 12,000, and taking office on 30 December.The Economist, Vol.254, p.75 In 1982, he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire."[https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/49008 Supplement to the London Gazette]", 11 June 1982, p.B10 He was elected to the General Council of the Trades Union Congress in 1983, but lost his seat the following year."Elections: Sapper loses seat", The Guardian, 5 September 1984 He also served on the executive of the Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions.AUEW Engineering Section Journal (1985), p.12

In 1984, the Foundry, Construction and Engineering Sections of the union amalgamated under the leadership of a single general secretary, Garland becoming national secretary of a newly-subordinate foundry section. He retired the following year"AUEW vote backs political fund", The Guardian, 7 August 1985 and died in Blackpool, Lancashire, in 2004.