John WestPrint Page

The memorial commemorates Trade Unionist and Politician, John West (1852-1931). 

Secretary of the Trades and Labor Council from 1880, West was president in 1887-1907. As chairman of its parliamentary committee, he supported the political Labor movement and saw the successful establishment of the Labor Party which owed much to the firm but meliorative approach championed by West and other T.L.C. leaders. As a delegate to the Intercolonial Trade Union congresses held after 1879, West supported the proposed Commonwealth Constitution. He declined to stand for the first Federal parliament, preferring to concentrate his energies on maintaining progress with the Trades Hall building project which had occupied his attention for years.

He attempted to enter State Parliament by standing against George Reid in East Sydney in 1906, but was unsuccessful; the following year he contested the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of King, again unsuccessfully. He again contested East Sydney in 1910, and won.

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