David Williams obituary

My father, David Williams, who has died aged 98, served as general secretary of the Confederation of Health Service Employees (Cohse, now part of Unison) trade union from 1983 until 1987. He was a staunch defender of the NHS and a passionate member of the Labour party, and was honoured to serve on the party’s national executive committee from 1981 to 1983; he had many roles during his career, including being a special adviser for the World Health Organization. His tenure in the top post of Cohse was during the turbulent years of the Thatcher government, and he never avoided crossing swords with people when it was crucial to do so.

His humour was still spot on until the end of his life, and he joked that no one would call his passing “untimely” due to his great age. David was born in Brynrefail, a village near Caernarfon, the son of Rowland Williams, a quarryman, and his wife, Evelyn. He won a scholarship to Brynrefail grammar school, but owing to the illness of his father, who could no longer work, he had to leave school when he was 15.



It was during the second world war and he went to work as an office boy at the aircraft factory in Llanberis. The poverty he experienced in childhood sowed the seeds for his lifelong passion to alleviate similar hardships for others. His grandfather’s oft-repeated refrain – “Whatever you do lad, join the union” – left a deep impression on him.

After four years in the Royal Navy on minesweepers, during and after the war, he came home, rudderless, like so many young men. He ended up, almost by default, nursing at Denbigh psychiatric hospital. There he met Kathleen Jones, who was also a nurse, and they married in 1949.

They had eight children, but tragically their firstborn, Bryn, died when he was seven years old. Almost immediately my father became active in local politics and the union. He started his full time career for Cohse in 1955 as Yorkshire regional secretary and we moved from Denbigh to Sheffield.

Seven years later the family moved south, when he became national officer, based at head office in Banstead, Surrey. He was elected assistant general secretary in 1974 and elected to the top post in 1983. He retired in 1987.

David’s working life was lived among the powerful, but at home he lived very simply – he hated pretentiousness, which is very Welsh, and never forgot his roots. Kathleen died in 2012. He is survived by seven children, Eirian, Gwanwyn, Helen, Dewi, Sian, Eifion and me, 18 grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren.

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