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About John Tocher
- John Tocher (29 September 1925 – 17 September 1991) was a British trade unionist and communist activist. Tocher worked in factories from the age of fourteen, but hoped to work on aeroplanes.
- When he reached eighteen, he was accepted into the Army Air Corps, serving until the end of World War II, when he returned to complete an apprenticeship at Avro.
- He joined the Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU), becoming a shop steward and then workplace convener at Woodford.In 1957, Tocher was elected as the AEU's Stockport District President, and became a delegate to the union's national committee.
- He became its Stockport District Secretary in 1964, then a full-time assistant divisional organiser, and eventually a divisional organiser.
- He also joined the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB), serving on its executive from 1963.Tocher led a strike at Roberts Arundel in 1967 and 1968, against efforts to replace experienced workers with women, who the managers expected would work for lower pay and in worse conditions.
- While the strike was largely unsuccessful, Tocher was lauded for his leadership, and was elected as chair of the CPGB.Tocher remained a prominent union figure, leading industrial action in support of a 35-hour working week in 1972.
- He stood down from the CPGB executive in 1973.
- Having married and with young children, harassment resulting from negative articles about him in the press led him to resign from the CPGB, although he remained sympathetic to its principles.
- He remained an active trade unionist, and stood unsuccessfully to become president of the AEU in 1985.Tocher was due to retire in late September 1991, but he died a week beforehand.
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