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bill july 2001 speirs outside scottish tuc headquarters in glasgow , 23 september 2009 glasgow , scotland dumbarton , scotland 200px scottish 08 march 1952 bill in glasgow , scotland speirs in july 2001 outside scottish tuc headquarters bill_speirs_200 . jpg bill speirs

bill speirs

william macleod speirs -lrb- 8 march 1952 -- 23 september 2009 -rrb- was a scottish trade union leader , a socialist and internationalist .
he was general secretary of the scottish trades union congress .
speirs was a key figure in left-wing scottish politics , chairing the scottish council of the labour party at the 1987 general election , and being a prominent member of various groups of the bennite left , e.g. the labour co-ordinating committee and scottish labour action .
speirs was also a high-profile advocate of scottish devolution , e.g. he was instrumental in the creation of scotland united , was a member of the scottish constitutional convention , and was a member of the group that drafted the key document scotland 's parliament , scotland 's right in 1995
