James Moher

Jim Moher was a national trade union figure with two major unions (Transport and General Workers' Union and Communication Workers Union) from 1974 to 2006. In that time, he served in a number of capacities - legal adviser and representative (accident and industrial disease claims); senior occupational pensions negotiator; National Legal Secretary; National Balloting Officer, National Political Officer and Employment Tribunal representative panel director. As the CWU's Political Officer, he was at the centre of their very successful political effort to assist Labour win the 1997 general election. He was also involved with the Labour leadership in policy formulation on employment law for government but was disappointed by their failure to reform most of the very one-sided and negative legislation against trade unions of previous Conservative governments. In 1995, his booklet reviewed the history of these laws, entitled, "Trade Unions and the Law - the politics of change on government policies, published by the Institute of Employment Rights, reviewed the history of these laws and made some suggestions for change. He was also a Member of Employment Tribunals in Central London (1989-2016), having held a law degree from University College Cork since 1973.

Jim Moher
Alma mater	University College Cork (BCL) University of London (PhD)
Occupation	Former official for TGWU Former National Secretary for CWU Former Local Councillor and Cabinet Member for Brent London Borough Council

As the National Legal Secretary, he was responsible for advising and assisting the Executive Council and senior officers on all aspects of union legislation and all union branches, districts and regional officials involved in dispute situations. He became the National Political Officer of the NCU and CWU from 1995 to 1998, and with the General Secretary and Political Fund Committee, directed the union's General Election campaign which returned over twenty 'union-sponsored' Labour MP's in 1997. In 1995, In 1995, the union merged to become the Communication Workers Union in which he became National Political Officer until 1998. He then reverted to legal duties, specialising in Employment Tribunal representation, training a panel of lay union officials very successfully.

Throughout his union career Moher lectured to union activists at their residential education centres on employment law and political topics, on which he has written extensively. He taught union activists at Ruskin College Oxford from 2006-12 on the history of trade unions. He currently writes for the History & Policy Trade Union Forum

From the 1970s, Moher became active in his local (London Borough of Brent) Labour scene, as he was concerned about many of the policies being pursued by what was generally viewed as a ‘loony Left’ council. In fact, his involvement in tackling these problems with a similar-minded 'soft-left' (Kinnockite) group, led him to take on a pivotal role as Chair of the Local Government Committee. Together, they helped restore normal business as Labour Leader, Neil Kinnock, was doing nationally. Moher then became the Brent North Labour Parliamentary Candidate in 1992, for the then 'safe' Tory seat of Sir Rhodes Boyson MP, performing creditably. He was later elected as a local councillor and Cabinet member on the Council (2002-2014). His book, "Stepping on White Corns - race, education, race and politics (2007)", sought to capture the atmosphere and issues of a turbulent but significant period of London politics, which threw up significant national figures and personalities (including Ken Livingstone as MP for Brent East) and Paul(now Lord) Boateng MP for Brent South. He served for twelve years as a councillor, being the Cabinet member responsible for Highways and Transportation from 2010–2014.

He retired from the Council in 2014, to devote more time to research and writing and became a historian of social and labour movements. He had obtained a doctorate in social and economic history at University College London in his spare time in 1989. He became a Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Contemporary British History, King's College, London (2014 to date) and for two terms a Visiting Fellow Commoner at Girton College, Cambridge [1] (2016-17). He became a founding member of the History and Policy Trade Union Forum in 2006, which brings together historians, union activists and others to examine past episodes of the Labour Movement with a view to influencing current policy. To this end, they have arranged many seminars and conferences at Kings College, London and other venues with many leading figures of the past contributing, such as the Miners'Strike 1984–5, The Wapping (Printers)Dispute of 1985, the Bullock Report 1977, Equal Pay for Women and the Future of Trade Union Law. The various sessions are captured on the History and Policy website (historyandpolicy.org)

He has published extensively in all those capacities: on trade unions and the law, both current and historical (the Combination laws); on London millwrights (masters and journeymen) and the emergence of the engineering industry; on union leaders in the heyday of Britain's unions from the General Strike to World War 2 (Walter Citrine and Ernest Bevin); on local government politics of race and education in London during the 1980s; on the early aircraft industry of Brent in WW1 and de Havilland aircraft company at Stag Lane, Kingsbury. He is currently working on a life of Lord Citrine of Wembley, General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress 1926-’46 as well as continuing to explore the formative period of the trade unions. Moher is also currently Chair of Wembley History Society.

Expertise: Labour history generally; trade unions and the law and their development historically as well as politics generally.

Career history

On leaving secondary school in 1963, Jim Moher took a post as clerk in Mitchelstown Creameries and the Agricultural Credit Corporation but left in 1965 to emigrate to the UK, working on London construction sites (including the original construction of the Barbican Centre in the City of London) in order to raise funds for his future undergraduate study. This work in construction provided an early insight into the employment protection provided to workers by the labour unions.

After graduating with a law degree from University College Cork in 1973, Moher returned to London to join the Transport and General Workers' Union under the leadership at the time of General Secretary Jack Jones, as a legal officer dealing primarily with industrial law cases such as employment cases, industrial accidents, and the support for workers suffering from illness as a result of their industrial employment.

Education

Moher obtained his Leaving Certificate with honours at Mitchelstown C.B.S. Co. Cork, Secondary School (now Michelstown C.B.S. Secondary School) in 1963. After a period as a clerk in Mitchelstown and Dublin and labouring in the London construction industry, he attended University College Cork, graduating with a degree in Law (B.C.L.) in 1973. Like many of that generation, he was radicalised politically and espoused a strong Marxist ideology for a time. This led to his life-long commitment to a trade union and labour movement career.

In 1988, Moher completed a PhD at Royal Holloway College, University of London titled "The London Millwrights and Engineers 1775-1825"[2]

Personal life

Jim Moher was born in Ballyporeen, County Tipperary, in 1946. He was the third youngest child of Daniel Moher, a carpenter, and Johanna Moher (née Hickey) who was herself the daughter of a stonemason. In 1973, he married Ruth Hewlett, who was born and brought up in Sharlston, a mining village in West Yorkshire. She graduated from London University (Westfield College) with an Honours BA in English Language and Literature. She has been a councillor for the London Borough of Brent since 2005 (after a career as a Social Worker/Manager) and was a Cabinet Member (Children and Families) from 2012 to 2017 and Deputy Leader (2012-14) .[3] They have two children - Joanna, wife of James Browne and Daniel, husband of Zoe Iveson - and three grandchildren - Jamie, Grace and Sophie.

Jim has been a school governor at his local Wembley High Technology College since 1974,[4] (including Chair of Governors for some years), which his daughter Joanna and son, Daniel, attended.

References

1. Girton College Fellows list
2. Dissertation at the Cambridge University Digital Archive, Girton College Collection
3. Interview notes, with Ian Lewis at Girton College, Cambridge, 2016
4. Wembley High Technology Governors List Archived 2016-03-09 at the Wayback Machine 2016