Order of Service

Eulogy

Eulogy for Clive, read at the service by Ged Nichols. 20^th May, 2011

Today is all about Clive the man, his lovely wife June, his loving son and daughter Andrew and Sally and their children who have spent so much time with Clive lately – it must have been very difficult for them to watch the man we all knew as so strong weaken and deteriorate.

But Clive’s work was a big part of his life too. It is what brought him into contact with so many of us who have come here today to share the family’s day and pay our last respects to this wonderful man.

I first met Clive in the early 1990s when he was appointed as a consultant to the Leeds Permanent Building Society Staff Association – before he achieved a certificate of independence for the Association and became its first general secretary.

He cut quite a dash – his somewhat relaxed sartorial attire was not quite in keeping with the rather stuffy “forum of building society staff associations” in those days. And his physical presence, positivity and passion were something of a culture shock too.

We weren’t used to ex-miners and intellectuals in finance sector unions in those days – maybe that’s one thing that hasn’t changed.

Clive and I hit it off from the start, so when the Halifax & Leeds Permanent building societies announced plans to merge, we were relieved in a way that fate, or financiers’ grandiose plans, threw us together.

From the day that Clive and I signed on the dotted line for our unions to join forces in what is now Accord, I don’t recall us ever having a cross word. I never tried to manage Clive – I’m not that brave or that daft. He managed himself through his values, his dedication to the people we were privileged to represent together and his life-long commitment to the principles of trade unionism.

The movement gave Clive his big break in life when the National Union of Mineworkers gave him a scholarship to study at Ruskin College in Oxford.

Ruskin College was established to provide educational opportunities for working class people who couldn’t or didn’t gain access to university through the conventional route. It was deliberately sited in Oxford, because the city symbolised the educational privilege and standards to which ordinary people could not have previously aspired to.

I won’t go through the rest of Clive’s biography or his achievements but I just want to say that I think that Clive gave so much to the movement through the rest of his life that he more than repaid the far sighted investment the NUM made in him.

Writing to June, the TUC general secretary, Brendan Barber said: “I was so terribly sorry to receive the news that after such a brave battle Clive has passed away. He had lived life to the full and I know that his commitment to the trade union movement had been a part of his life since he started work as a young lad in the mines.

“Whenever I saw Clive at Accord events, or at meetings in the TUC, he always seemed so positive and cheerful, and I know how much he was loved within the union and how much Ged valued his comradeship and the support they gave each other.

“Accord members will feel his loss deeply, but of course you and his closest family and friends will grieve most heavily.

“These days will be difficult I know but I hope you will be able to draw some comfort from knowing how much Clive was admired and respected by so many friends and colleagues, not just in Accord but in the whole trade union movement which he served so well.”

Also, John Monks, general secretary of the European TUC (and soon to be Lord Monks) said in a letter to June: “I was very sorry to hear of Clive’s death. The news came out of the blue and was a big shock to me.

“I liked Clive very much and (I must be careful here given which side of the Pennines I come from and which side I’m speaking on today) speaking as a Lancastrian, I think Clive was an embodiment of the virtues of the Yorkshireman without any of the vices.

“Clive was sensitive, loyal, open and kind with a steady reliability which I much appreciated.

“I write to express, inadequately, my respect and affection for Clive and my sincere condolences.”

Both Brendan and John said they would have been here today but important international trade union business is keeping them both in Athens.

I’m sure June is rightly proud of these letters but she has also been moved and comforted by the tributes on Accord’s website written by the people who have known and worked with, or opposite, Clive over the years.

One of my favourites was in an email I received from a 19 year old woman, a Muslim and a member of our union who wrote: “May Allah, Glorified and Exalted, grant him a place in heaven.”

Clive’s popularity knew no boundaries of age, race, gender, religion or sexual orientation.

Of course, I should also welcome the tributes paid, and the attendance here today of so many people from the management teams of the Leeds, Halifax, Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group. Friends from Clive’s own union, Unite and a number of other friends from the trade union movement. And perhaps most of all, so many members of Accord and so many of the workplace representatives who are the backbone of our union and who Clive valued so much.

It says so much about the character of the man, this fighter, champion of the people and tough negotiator that he was respected and admired by so many of those who have, occasionally, had cause to witness Clive at full throttle.

I don’t think it would appropriate today to repeat Clive’s best known phrase from the negotiating arena – but when he wasn’t having it, you were in no doubt that he wasn’t having it.

I tried to find a couple of lines of poetry that could convey this and remembered Rudyard Kipling’s The Norman & The Saxon which I first came across in one of the autobiographies of Lord Denis Healy who was raised in West Yorkshire too and with whom Clive shared many doughty qualities:

“The Saxon is not like us Normans. His manners are not so polite.

But he never means anything serious till he talks about justice and right.

When he stands like an ox in the furrow – with his sullen set eyes on your own,

And grumbles, ‘This isn’t fair dealing,’ my son, leave the Saxon alone.”

I think a number of employers had good reason over the years to leave Clive alone.

If you get a chance, please read through the tributes on Accord’s website. Some are very eloquent, others simple. But all are heartfelt. Clive’s enduring qualities come through time after time:

• The tough negotiator with the cheeky smile;
• The inspirational leader with a mischievous sense of humour;
• The gentleman with passion and integrity;
• The professional with high principles who was also a caring pragmatist:

And running through all contributions, is a palpable sense of loss.

Today we are all expressing our grief and rightly so as we say farewell to our comrade, brother, husband, dad, father-in-law, granddad, friend and, for some, respected opponent.

But going forward, Accord will do three things – well, at least three:

• The first is to invite all of you to a celebration of Clive’s life at Congress House, the home of the TUC, in London on the evening of 7^th July.
• The second is to give some of the next generation of trade unionists the kind of break that the NUM gave to Clive and provide some form of regular scholarships or sponsorships.
• The third, and perhaps the easiest for us, is to commit to remember our brother on May 10^th each year – to tell stories, laugh and cry – on what we will call “Clivey Day”.

Shortly before he died, I was lucky enough to spend a few wonderful hours with Clive, laughing and reminiscing. I’ll never forget it.

It was clear to me that he was facing into what was then inevitable with the courage, stoicism and compassion for those around him that were the defining characteristics of his personality and his life. He will be sadly missed by us all.

Rest in peace Brother – life won’t be the same without you.

It has been an honour and a privilege to know you, to work with you and to love you.

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