Fred Jarvis
Leader of the National Union of Teachers
BORN SEPTEMBER 8, 1924 – DIED JUNE 15, 2020, AGED 95
AS general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, Fred Jarvis fought constant battles with Margaret Thatcher’s government.
In 1985 and ’86 there were strikes in London as Jarvis fought to impose generous pay awards to teachers which had been sanctioned by the Labour-dominated Burnham Committee.
Jarvis felt the action was more effective than the miners’ strikes because the impact was felt in every home across the country.
Education Secretary Kenneth Baker eventually abolished the Burnham Committee. A consequence of the perpetual strike action was Labour defeat in the 1987 general election.
Although he annoyed some Tory-voting members of his union, most found him a likeable leader who worked tirelessly in support of his members for 14 years from 1974.
Born in East London, at Plaistow secondary school, he wrote underground
newspaper Martyrs’ Own. The family moved to Merseyside, where Jarvis fronted communist-leaning youth movements.
A brave soldier, he stormed Normandy beaches on D-Day, writing newspaper articles from his dug-out.
At St Catherine’s College, Oxford, he was a vibrant student of philosophy, politics and economics.
While President of the National Union of Students he successfully campaigned for student grants, one of his greatest achievements.
In 1959, he persuaded the Queen to attend a careers and education exhibition at Olympia and despite being a non-teacher, rose quickly through the NUT ranks.
His wife Anne, a teacher whom he met at university, died in 2007.
He is survived by son Robin and daughter Jacky.
WRITTEN by JAMES MURRAY