I introduced my dad to Rodney at the STUC congress in Edinburgh in 1996. After they chatted (for a while) Rodney said to me “You have to tape record him, John”.
Sadly, I deeply regret never getting round to following that advice.
But it did bring home to me how fascinated Rodney was about personal, real-lived labour history. About the people on the ground that worked, sacrificed and organised to create real change for all workers. Not the ones celebrated and known in history but the ones that actually made it happen on the ground.
(Another memory from that Congress was Cath Friel giving Rodney a pandrop just before, unrealised by him, he was due to speak. It was a joy watching him launch into a speech while desperately trying to swallow a huge pandrop).
John Stevenson
Past Chair UNISON Scotland
Communications & Campaigns Committee
