born March 9, 1881, Winsford, Somerset, Eng.
died April 14, 1951, London
British labour leader and statesman.
Active in labour organizations from 1905, he became head of the Dockers' Union. In 1921 he merged several unions into the Transport and General Workers' Union, which became the world's largest trade union, and served as its general secretary until 1940. He was a forceful minister of labour and national service in Winston Churchill 's wartime coalition government (194045). As foreign secretary in Clement Attlee 's Labour government (194551), he negotiated the Brussels Treaty and helped establish NATO .