We are saddened to report that Bob Cullen, a shop steward in the Oxford car industry, and later a union rep at Royal Mail, died  away on March 30, aged 76. A well-attended funeral was held on 29 April at Oxford crematorium. Those giving tributes included Dave Ward, the current General Secretary of the Communication Workers Union (CWU). A big delegation attended from the union.

Born in Dublin, and proud of his Irish roots, Bob became a shop steward in the British Leyland Cowley Assembly Plant in the golden age of militant trade unionism in Britain — the 1970 and 80s. Pay and working conditions in Cowley at that time were second to none.

Bob had three children with his then-partner Hannah Cole — Kerry, Leon and Corin. His brother Perry was already in the plant, and a militant shop steward in the export packing section.

Workers in Cowley at that time were fighting against compliant union leaders, as well as management, and this produced a generation of very strong shop stewards. Bob was amongst the best of them. He later joined the Workers Socialist League (WSL) of which some of us were already members.

When Bob handed in his notice as a Dewhurst butcher, in November 1973, to head for Cowley, there was little to indicate that he would play such an important role in the history of militant trade unionism in the plant and beyond.

His job was in the trim shop, which supplied seats to the assembly lines for the various models built in the plant. Cowley, in the post-war period, produced the Morris Minor, the Mini, the Maxi, the Marina, the Honda Acclaim, the Morris Oxford, and the Wolseley.

Car workers had recently overtaken coal miners as the most militant section of the trade union movement in the country, if measured by the number of strikes and strugles, and other forms of industrial action. The Assembly Plant had about 150 shop stewards representing a workforce of about 6,000. The Body Plant across the road, which was built to supply the Morris Assembly Plant, had similar numbers but had long embraced a more conservative trade union tradition after a very important recognition strike in 1934.

Formidable

Bob soon became a formidable shop steward with a strong personal following. He was a crucial person to have on your side as management fought to regain the control that they had lost to militant trade unionism.

In November 1984 there was a very significant strike over the British Leyland annual wage review. The claim was for 20 per cent, and the offer was 4.7 per cent. The unions were split, however. Whilst the Tranport and General Workers Union (TGWU) supported the strike and made the strike official, Terry Duffy of the engineering union, AUEW denounced it. A combination of Terry Duffy and legal action broke the strike and there was a return to work on management terms. It was a very damaging situation.

Soon after that — and no doubt because of it —Bob, by then a deputy to the TGWU convenor Ivor Braggins, was called in front of management and sacked. He was accused of damaging a windscreen wiper on the picket line during the pay strike.

Bob’s case was water tight — or so we thought — since he was not on gate 16, where the damage took place at any time that morning but on gate 10. Moreover, the security guard on gate 10 was prepared to testify that Bob was on that gate that morning and did not leave at any time.  The guard on gate 16, meanwhile, where the damage took place, was prepared to state that Bob was not on that gate that morning. Meanwhile the picket, who actually damaged the wiper, went to management and admitted it, saying that he did not want someone else to carry the can for something he had done.

Management, however, would not shift. Although they were forced to accept (at an industrial tribunal) that it was a case of mistaken identity — which it initially was — they would not change their position. They sacked him anyway. It was pure symbolism. If a respected shop steward, with a strong personal support, could be sacked in this way, no one was safe. It ended a long period, during which the trade unions strengthened year on year, to one in which they went into sharp decline.

Bob, however, quickly re-established himself as a militant trade unionist by getting a job at Oxford Royal Mail, and was soon a rep for the Communication Workers Union (CWU). Denis Kilgariff, previously in the Assembly plant, was already there, and he would soon be joined by Dave Pinnington, another militant shop steward from the plant, making Oxford one of the most militant branches in the CWU.

Dave Ward put it well on his x account: “He (Bob) was one of the best reps I have ever come across and survived many attempts by Royal Mail to sack him, through the support of his members and the union.  He stood against all forms of injustice and understood the true meaning of working-class solidarity.”

Many postal workers, including Bob, thought that closing down the Oxford sorting office and moving it to Swindon was an attempt by Post Office management to get away from the Oxford branch.

The establishment has tried to erase this period from history. Bob’s death reminds us that it happened, and many of us hope it is repeated. We should ourselves re-look at its history, and urge others to look at it. Alan Thornett’s books on Cowley are the best example of a leading participants description of those events, including the role played so well by Bob Cullen. Rest in peace.