The End of an Era - Peter Purton talks
to Fyne about his imminent retirement
For anybody to have been in a post for 20 years is quite an achievement.
And when that job is representing marginalised workers who have been
faced with massive changes in legislation and attitudes, it is not so much a
job but a vocation. Fyne Times are delighted that in true Peter Purton style,
he has taken time out from preparing for his retirement to talk to us about
his own history with the labour movement and the changes he has seen.
FT: So what was your first involvement
with the unions?
PP: It was as a member, and ordinary lay
member. Having come out in the mid-70s,
I decided become actively involved in gay
liberation politics and I decided it was best to
take the issue through the labour movement.
FT: So what sort of job were you doing
at the time and what were the reactions
when you came out?
PP: At the time I did a number of different
jobs. I was working in the voluntary sector and
I have a few years in the office of a factory.
And at the time, which was the late 70s, the
reaction was they didn’t know how to deal with
homosexuality. The more progressive people
recognised that it as an issue that trade unions
needed to take up. They just weren’t very
aware of how to do it but they were conscious
of the current attitude to homosexuality,
which was overwhelmingly negative. And
this attitude was shared just as much by the
ordinary union members as other members
of the public. So the activists were open to
discussion, the local union leaders were open
to discussion but they were obviously a little
bit ignorant because nobody had raised the
issue before.
FT: So when did you make the shift from
being a member to actually
working for a union?
PP: Not until the
mid-90s when I got
a job for NATFHE,
which was the
union of lecturers in
further education.
I got a job in the
equality unit there.
That’s now part
of the University
and College Union,
they had a merger.
So I spent four
years working in that
office. By then things had
changed a great deal and
every union had an equality
policy and structures in place and
full-time staff working within that
structure.
FT: Presumably since you started
at the TUC in 1989 you have seen
and overseen the work environment
change for LGBTs?
PP: Yes. Very much so. It would be hard
to pin down particular moments - it is
spring 2015
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