About Ron Smith
Lived 1915 – 1999 (aged 84). Ron Smith was a trade unionist.
Ron Smith CBE (15 July 1915 – 20 October 1999) was a British trade unionist.
Born in North London, Smith studied with the Workers' Educational Association, following his father into a job delivering mail, and also becoming active in the Labour Party and the Union of Post Office Workers. He became a full-time official in 1951, and in 1956 was elected as General Secretary of the union, also being elected to the General Council of the Trades Union Congress.
Smith joined the National Economic Development Council and was a part-time director of the British Overseas Airways Corporation. He stood down from his trade union post in 1966, to become Director of Labour Relations at the British Steel Corporation, in which role he frequently came into conflict with the steel workers' trade unions.
In his spare time, Smith collected beer mats and wine bottle labels from around the world.
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Important facts
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Ron Smith's
Frequently asked questions
Who was Ron Smith?
British trade unionist
When was Ron Smith born?
Ron Smith was born on 15 July 1915.
When did Ron Smith die?
Ron Smith died on 20 October 1999.
What was Ron Smith's occupation?
Ron Smith was a trade unionist.
Sources & further reading
· DBpedia: Ron Smith (trade unionist)
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Ron Smith. https://biography.guide/ron-smith-trade-unionist/
MLA: "Ron Smith." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/ron-smith-trade-unionist/.
Chicago: "Ron Smith." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/ron-smith-trade-unionist/.
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