Lou Lewis

{{short description|English trade unionist and activist}} {{for|the British musician|Lew Lewis}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} '''Lou Lewis''' (27 July 1939 – 11 January 2010) was a trade unionist and activist in London.<ref>[http://ucatt.infobo.co.uk/files/buildingworker/Building-Worker-2010-Spring.pdf" UCATT - Building Worker -Spring 2010]</ref>

==Biography== Lou Lewis was born in Liverpool on 27 July 1939 and joined the Amalgamated Society of Woodworkers (ASW) at the start of his carpentry apprenticeship.<ref name=Barbican>{{cite book|last1=Wall|first1=Christine|last2=Clarke|first2=Linda|last3=McGuire|first3=Charlie|last4=Muñoz-Rojas|first4=Olivia|title=Building the Barbican 1962 – 1982: taking the industry out of the dark ages|year=2012|publisher=University of Westminster|location=London|isbn=978-0-903109-34-5|url=http://www.buildingworkersstories.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/BarbicanPamphlet.pdf|access-date=2014-05-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120907195055/http://www.buildingworkersstories.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/BarbicanPamphlet.pdf|archive-date=2012-09-07|url-status=dead}}</ref>

He was the union convener at the Barbican site in central London, where he led several so-called wildcat disputes and a lengthy strike in 1967, which called for better working conditions and pay for building workers.<ref name="construction.co.uk">[http://www.construction.co.uk/construction_news.asp?newsid=105243 Construction.co.uk]</ref> He was organiser of the London Joint Sites Committee which brought together building workers across London.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-telegraph-complete-standstill/149951007/ |title=Complete Standstill Threat to Barbican |first=John |last=Izbicki |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |publication-place=London |page=22 |date=1967-03-29 |access-date=2024-06-24 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

Lewis was a founding member Building Workers’ Charter movement which was active in opposing the Lump Labour Scheme.<ref name="grahamstevenson">[http://www.grahamstevenson.me.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=912 www.grahamstevenson.me.uk]</ref><ref>[https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/newspape/isj/1975/no075/goulding.htm International Socialism, No.75, February 1975, pp.22-27.]</ref><ref name="workerspower">[http://www.workerspower.co.uk/2011/11/building-workers-the-great-strike-of-1972/ Building workers: The great strike of 1972]</ref>

Later, the Amalgamated Society of Woodworkers (ASW) joined the AUBTW to form the Amalgamated Society of Woodworkers, Painters and Builders (ASWPB), and in December 1971, the name was changed to the Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians (UCATT). Lewis became UCATT Regional Secretary for the London South East Region, and he was a key member of the Communist Party's Executive Committee (during the 70s and onwards).<ref name="grahamstevenson" />

He died on 11 January 2010, at the age of 71.

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Lou}} Category:English trade unionists Category:Communist Party of Great Britain members Category:1930s births Category:2010 deaths