Bill Speirs

Former general secretary of the Scottish TUC, Bill Speirs, has died aged 57 after a long illness.

Speirs worked at the STUC from 1979 to 2006, for the last eight years as the head of the organisation. His time there was marked by momentous events such as the miners’ strike, the anti-poll tax campaign and the campaign for a Scottish Parliament.

His successor, Grahame Smith, described him as “a champion of working people across the world”.