Record

Code	DS/UK/2701
Name	Thomas; James Henry (3 October 1874-21 January 1949); Welsh trade unionist and politician
Variations of Name	Jimmy Thomas; J H Thomas; Jim Thomas
Dates	3 October 1874-21 January 1949
Gender	Male
Place of Birth/Origin	Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales (born)
Biography	James Henry Thomas PC was a Welsh trade unionist and Labour (later National Labour) politician. He was involved in a political scandal involving budget leaks. He became an official of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants and in 1913 helped to organise its merger with two smaller trade unions on the railways to form the National Union of Railwaymen (now part of the RMT). Thomas was elected NUR general secretary in 1916, a post he held until 1931. Thomas was general secretary during the successful national rail strike of 1919 that was jointly called by the NUR and ASLEF against proposed wage reductions. In 1921 Thomas played a leading role in the Black Friday crisis, in which rail and transport unions failed to come to the aid of the mineworkers, who were facing wage reductions. Before the 1926 General Strike the TUC asked Thomas to negotiate with Stanley Baldwin's Conservative Government, but the talks were unsuccessful and the strike went ahead.

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