Barbara Switzer

Barbara Switzer (née McMinn; born 26 November 1940) is a former British trade unionist. She grew up in Manchester, attending Chorlton Central School and Stretford Technical College, where she completed a City & Guilds certificate as an electrical technician. After an engineering apprenticeship with Metropolitan-Vickers, she became a draughtsperson, initially with GEC at Trafford Park. She joined the Association of Engineering and Shipbuilding Draughtsmen, and became increasingly involved as she campaigned for equal pay with male colleagues. Although this challenge failed, she became the first woman to serve on the union's national executive, in 1973. In 1976, Switzer became the first female full-time divisional officer for the union, by then known as the "Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section" (TASS). That year, she also received the Trades Union Congress (TUC) Gold Badge. In 1979, she became the union's National Organiser then, in 1983, its Deputy General Secretary, a feat described by The Times as "the first appointment to a senior union job of a woman who has risen through the ranks". During the 1980s, Switzer was associated with the left-wing of the Labour Party. She narrowly missed out on election to the women's section of the party's National Executive Committee (NEC), and from 1985 served on the management committee of the Morning Star. As such, she worked closely with the union's general secretary, Ken Gill, who was a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain.