 |
| RTUC Banner - the official unveiling at the delegates' meeting |
After more than a year of discussion concerning design and production, the Reading Trades Union Council banner was officially unveiled at the RTUC delegates' meeting on 13 June 2018 - from a design finalised by Nick Hatton. Its obverse iconography represents a wealth of Reading history, with key workplaces such as the Royal Berkshire Hospital and Reading Railway Station (and, from the past, Huntley & Palmers' Biscuit Factory) keeping company with such Reading symbols as the Maiwand Lion, the memorial to the volunteers of the International Brigades and the Red Kite. Reading's proud symbols of struggle are also represented, with banners on display representing the Suffragettes, Pride and Peace. And foregrounding it all is the diverse Reading population - with persons from all ethnicities standing shoulder to shoulder, defending past victories and promoting a better future.
On the reverse, the banner pays a special homage to three pillars of the local labour movement - Thora Silverthorne, Ian Mikardo and Lorenzo ('Len') Quelch.
 |
| The reverse detail during the May Day march |
Thora was a volunteer nurse in the Spanish Civil War, caring for the fallen heroes of Spanish democracy under the auspices of the Spanish Medical Aid Committee and in so doing becoming a hero herself. On her return to Britain, she was instrumental in founding an independent trade union for nurses - the National Nurses Association - and as a paid employee of the Socialist Medical Association, through which she lobbied for the creation of the NHS in the 1940s.
Ian was the Labour member of parliament for Reading/Reading South (1945-59). Although never a cabinet minister, he did chair the Select Committee on Nationalised Industries and had stints as Chair of the Labour Party and Chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party.
Len started his career as a trade unionist, serving as Secretary of the Berkshire Branch of the English Land Restoration League and being active in the Agricultural and General Workers' Union. He was also seconded to Gibraltar for a period, reorganising the Coal Porters' Union. In politics, he was a Reading Borough Councillor from 1914 to 1937, being elevated to the Aldermanic Bench from 1933 to 1937.
 |
| Heading Reading's May Day march |
Although officially unveiled on 13 June, the RTUC banner had already made two public appearances by that date: on 7 May it headed the annual Reading May Day march through the town, with RTUC President Chris Reilly (RMT) leading the way; and on 7 June the banner was flown outside the Reading Town Hall, while BBC Question Time was being filmed, as part of a vigil for Palestinian victims of Israeli aggression.
 |
| The RTUC banner on display at the vigil for Palestine |
