Shining light

Lifelong Unite member and dedicated socialist activist Betty Tebbs died peacefully with her family on Monday (January 23) at the age of 98 after having spent decades fighting for peace, justice and equality.

Betty, also a Unite Community member, joined her first trade union at the age of 14 in 1932 after she discovered that she was being paid two shillings less than a male colleague working at a paper mill in Bury.

“I made it clear I weren’t happy and someone got me a union form,” Betty told Mirror journalist Ros Wynne Jones. “By the time I left 18 years later, we were the best paid papermill women in the country.”

Born seven months before the end of the First World War, Betty was born in the shadow of war and would also experience first-hand its ravages in early adulthood – her first husband Ernie was killed in action in 1944.

Lifelong commitment

These experiences sparked in Betty a lifelong commitment to the anti-war movement as a member of the CND.

After marrying her second husband Len Tebbs, she joined the Labour Party.

Her fighting spirit took her across the world – from South Africa to Libya to Eastern Europe she participated in causes fighting for peace and justice.

In her role as National Assembly of Women chair, she met with Warsaw Pact and Nato negotiators to lobby for nuclear disarmament.

At home in the UK, as a trade union organiser she won for many workplaces better pay, terms and conditions. She set up a refuge for abused women in Warrington, and she attended demonstrations throughout the years up until last year, participating in recent marches on her mobility scooter.

In 2007, nearly 90 years old, she lay down in front of the Faslane nuclear base alongside other protestors again in her dedicated support of nuclear disarmament.

For her efforts spanning several decades, she was recently awarded the Radical Hero Award by People’s History Museum and the Special Women’s Award.

In September last year, Betty gave a speech to a rousing standing ovation at the Real Britain fringe of the Labour Party conference, at which Unite general secretary Len McCluskey also spoke.

‘Someone special’

“It was a true honour to meet Betty,” McCluskey said. “She was really was someone special, a shining light leading the way, urging us all to never give up the fight.

“Her life had spanned an extraordinary century for working class people,” he added. “But Betty knew that the achievements we had made were never safe though.  That’s why she never stopped campaigning.

“We’ll miss her energy but we celebrate having had this woman on our side.”

“Betty will always be one of us,” he went on to say. “She proudly carried the baton for justice. That baton has now been passed to us all.  We will not let her down.”

Unite extends its condolences to Betty’s family and friends. Her funeral will be held next Tuesday (January 31). She requested that people donate to the CND and the Morning Star in lieu of flowers.

Pics by Mark Thomas