Charlie Powell (HLP Chairman) Pam Morrison and Mick Whelan (ASLEF General Secretary)
A delegation of senior ASLEF officials led by the unions General Secretary, Mick Whelan, attended the monthly meeting of Harwich Branch Labour Party to honour the memory of Andy Morrison.
Andy Morrison, who served as a Harwich Town Councillor for 20 years and who was mayor of Harwich on three occasions, was himself a national officer with the train drivers’ union at the time of his death earlier this year.
Andy’s widow, Pam, his daughter, Beth, and his brother, Stuart, were present with local Labour Party members to see Mick Whelan hand a cheque for £250 to Branch chairman, Charlie Powell in Andy’s memory with a promise of further donations in the future and an offer of assistance in elections and campaigns.
Mick Whelan says
“Andy Morrison was a good friend to me and a valued colleague to everyone in ASLEF. His overwhelming sense of social justice was a major influence in Andy’s trade union activities and his role in public life. The future of the railways is important to Harwich and it is fitting that ASLEF creates closer links with Harwich Branch Labour Party in Andy’s memory.”
Local Labour Party members then listened to a talk by Mick Whelan in which he referred to the growing issue of ‘transport poverty’, a situation which is very relevant to Harwich with high levels of unemployment and the cost of travelling to work outside of the area rising dramatically.
Branch chairman, Charlie Powell, says
“Mick Whelan’s talk certainly struck a chord with our members and we are very pleased both with the donation and also with the opportunity to forge closer links with ASLEF. Andy Morrison was very special to us and we will use these closer links to campaign for the values he believed in.”
Pam Morrison, who herself was a Harwich Town Councillor and who served as mayoress on three occasions, also addressed the meeting and received a very warm reception from her Labour Party colleagues.
Pam Morrison says
“Outside of his family Andy’s great pride was in ASLEF and Harwich. The family is immensely proud of everything that Andy achieved and we are delighted that further achievements may come about in Andy’s memory because of the links between ASLEF and the local Labour Party.”
For further information please contact
James Mc Gowan, ASLEF’s head of Policy and Communications on
0207 324 2438 or mobile 07932 749095
Pam Morrison on 01255 240381
Garry Calver on 01255 551940