Tommy Brennan

For other people named Thomas Brennan, see Thomas Brennan (disambiguation).

Tommy Brennan MBE (20 August 1932 – 27 January 2022) was a Scottish trade unionist and political activist. A member of the Labour Party,^[1] Brennan was widely known for being the convenor of shop stewards at Ravenscraig steelworks. He led the fight to save the Scottish steel industry in the 1980s and 1990s,^[2] until he was made redundant in 1991, shortly before Ravenscraig's infamous closure.^[3] He worked at the plant for a total of 31 years.^[4][5]

Brennan was born in Carfin, Lanarkshire on 20 August 1932, as the middle of three brothers.^[6] He received an MBE in the 1991 New Year Honours.^[7][8]

When asked in 2013 to comment on the death of Margaret Thatcher, who had been accused of betraying steel workers in government,^[9] Brennan said: "I have a simple philosophy in life that if you look at every bad situation you may find a little plus there. The one plus I could find about Thatcher was that she brought salmon back to the Clyde – she closed all the industry on either side of it so they couldn't pollute it."^[10]

Brennan latterly re-emerged as a proponent of Scottish independence, ahead of the country's referendum.^[11]

Brennan died on 27 January 2022, at the age of 89.^[6]