Tribute to Barry Fitzpatrick
The NUJ has paid tribute to former official Barry Fitzpatrick following his death on 17 September.
Fitzpatrick served as the union’s national organiser and deputy general secretary during his time at the NUJ, having started his career as a lay rep at the Sunday Times in 1968.
In the 1980s Fitzpatrick was a full-time official with the Society of Graphical and Allied Trades (SOGAT), the former printing industry union, during the Wapping dispute where Rupert Murdoch moved his operations from Fleet Street to Wapping in a union-busting move.
Séamus Dooley, NUJ assistant general secretary, conveyed his condolences to Fitzpatrick’s family:
“On behalf of the NUJ, I extend sympathy to Barry wife's Jane, to his family, and to many friends across the trade union movement.
“From his early days as a SOGAT official Barry was noted as a tough negotiator: blunt, direct and determined. He brought those qualities to the NUJ at a time when the union was engaged in challenging negotiations on collective agreements. He had an unrivalled knowledge of the print industry and had a close working relationship with the NUJ prior to his appointment. He enjoyed the rough and tumble of negotiations and worked closely with chapel officers and committees."
David Ayrton, NUJ chapel chair, said:
"Barry was a committed and outstanding trade union official. Many of us, not least myself, were trained and educated under Barry’s stewardship and for that we owe him a great debt of gratitude. Barry served as NUJ officials’ Father of the Chapel some considerable time before I myself would take the post. Barry was a tough taskmaster for those like myself who were working under his authority. He was, nevertheless, always ready to give advice and guidance. Furthermore, he made it clear to me that should I make any mistakes, as long as I reported them instantly to him, then he considered them to be his own mistakes and would quickly rectify them. Obviously, had I not informed him of any such errors then he would not have been best pleased!
"His mentality toward our work was always on the correct basis, that we are in our positions as professional trade union officials to serve our members, the loyal and hard-working members of the NUJ. And it is on that basis that we continue to work having been enabled in our capacity to do that properly and efficiently, some of us by the guidance given by Barry. We send our condolences to Barry’s family, who he loved as his only love, other than the love of his work as a trade unionist.”