William Sirs (6 January 1920 – 16 June 2015) was a British trade unionist, who served as general secretary of the Iron and Steel Trades Confederation (ISTC) from 1975 to 1985. [1]
Bill Sirs was born and raised in Hartlepool, one of 10 children. [1] He left school at 14 and became a crane operator in the iron and steel industry, becoming active in forerunners of the ISTC. He remained in north-east England until he moved south with his two children and his wife Joan. [2]
Sirs is best remembered for his involvement in the steelworkers' strike of 1980. [3] During the action, Sirs came into conflict with Ian MacGregor, the man appointed by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to slim down British Steel Corporation, then a nationalised industry. Sirs was quoted as saying, "We are being looked upon as the worst producing steel nation in Europe". [4]
Sirs subsequently incurred the wrath of other trade unionists by his intervention in the miners' strike of 1984. [5]
Sirs was a member of the St Ermin's group, an organised group of right-wing trade unionists meeting at the St Ermin's Hotel with the aim of preventing the Bennite left taking over the Labour Party. [6]