John Carroll (trade unionist)

John F. Carroll (8 January 1925 – 19 April 2018)[1] was an Irish trade union leader. He was vice-president of the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union (ITGWU) from 1969 to 1981, when he became the union's president until its merger in 1990 with the Federated Workers' Union of Ireland to form the new Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union (SIPTU).

Carroll was born in the Ballybough, an inner city district of northeast Dublin. He was the second of four children of John Carroll and his wife May (née Daly). His father woked for Dublin Corporation as labourer, was an active member of the ITGWU, and had been a former member of the Communist Party of Ireland.[1]

After education at St Canice's National School and the O'Connell School, Carroll passed the examination to enter the Irish Civil Service. However a friend of his mother asked if he would instead work with the ITGWU. He began as a branch assistant, but by 1958 was Head of Industrial Movements, where one of his roles was monitoring wage rates. He gained a diploma in Industrial Engineering from Columbia University in New York City.[1]

A lifelog Labour Party member, Carroll also served briefly as a senator. In 1981, he was nominated by the Taoiseach, Garret FitzGerald as a member of the 15th Seanad Éireann. The 15th Seanad was short-lived, and Carroll was not re-appointed in 1982 to the 16th Seanad.[2]