Roger Bolton (trade unionist)

For the British producer and programme presenter, see Roger Bolton (producer).

Roger William Bolton (7 September 1947, Dublin, Ireland – 18 November 2006, Woking, Surrey) was a British trade unionist.

Roger Bolton left Dublin with his family in 1958 when they moved to London. He began his career as a photographic technician at Boots the Chemist before moving to the BBC and became a prominent member of the BBC trade union, the Association of Broadcasting Staff (ABS).[1]

In 1979, he began working for the ABS, and remained a union employee though a series of mergers in which it became the Broadcasting and Entertainment Trades Alliance and finally the Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union (BECTU).

Bolton rose to prominence during a successful pay dispute with the BBC in 1989, and was elected General Secretary of BECTU in 1993.

He married Elaine Lewis in 1974 and they had one child, a daughter.[2]

Roger Bolton died from cancer, aged 59, in 2006.[1] He was replaced by Gerry Morrissey.[3]

  1. ^ a b Morrissey, Gerry (8 December 2006). "Roger Bolton". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
  2. ^ "Roger Bolton". The Independent. 28 November 2006. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
  3. ^ Berry, Mike (6 February 2007). "Gerry Morrissey takes helm at Bectu after death of union boss Roger Bolton". Personnel Today. Retrieved 15 March 2023.