Former Fire Brigades Union general secretary Ken Cameron dies

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Ken Cameron, the former general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), has died aged 74.

Mr Cameron, who led the trade union for two decades between 1980 and 2000, was a well-known left-wing internationalist who brought his union’s domestic clout to bear on international issues.

A critic of apartheid in South Africa and Israeli policy in Palestine, Mr Cameron achieved such international notoriety that he received a personal message of thanks from Nelson Mandela upon his retirement.

He was the first general secretary to bring a pro-Palestine motion at the Trades Union Congress in 1982, and also made Mr Mandela an honourary member of the FBU in 1990.

Though long a Labour member, Mr Cameron advocated trade unions breaking ties with the party in 1999.

“The Labour Party no longer sees us as their natural partners. We can no longer rely on them to be our natural allies,” he told the TUC annual conference in Brighton in 1990.

His own FBU ultimately disaffiliated from the party in 2004 after his retirement, at the height of a bitter dispute over pay and conditions with Tony Blair’s New Labour government.

The union has in recent months however moved to reaffiliate with Labour since the election of Mr Corbyn.

Matt Wrack, the current FBU general secretary, said Mr Cameron advocated causes unpopular causes and embodied “everything that was good about the work of firefighters.

“We are all feeling a tremendous sense of loss at the passing of Ken Cameron, as will the rest of the Labour movement. Ken was a forward thinking, socialist union leader who devoted many years of his life to ensuring that firefighters’ pay and conditions were protected following the fallout from the strikes of 1977-78,” he said.

“He was also a champion of international causes such as Cuba, South Africa and Palestine, causes that weren’t especially popular or fashionable at the time. Ken defended everything that was good about the work of firefighters.

“He will be much missed by this union and by firefighters all around the country. His work with us will never, ever be forgotten.”

Alan McLean, FBU president, said Mr Cameron counted world leaders as his friends and would be mourned.

“Ken was a humble man, small in stature but who walked with giants, counting Fidel Castro and Nelson Mandela as friends and comrades,” he said.

“Ken will be mourned not only by our movement but by workers all over the world.”