Vic Allen

rdf:langString Vic Allen

rdf:langString Vic Allen

rdf:langString Vic Allen

rdf:langString Kgao ya Bahale award

rdf:langString London School of Economics

rdf:langString Anti-apartheid activism

rdf:langString Communist activism

rdf:langString Smuggling money to fund South African trade unions

rdf:langString Power in Trade Unions

rdf:langString Author

rdf:langString Teacher

rdf:langString

rdf:langString University Professor

rdf:langString Vic Allen (1923 – 2014) was a British communist, human rights activist, political prisoner, sociologist, historian, economist and emeritus professor at the University of Leeds who worked closely with British trade unions, and was considered a key player in the resistance against Apartheid in South African. He was also known for being a key activist within the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB), and for spending his life supporting the South African National Union of Mineworkers (NUM). Allen was the mentor of British trade union leader Arthur Scargill, and also a brief acquaintance of Nelson Mandela. During attempts to establish trade unions in Nigeria, he was accused of conspiring to overthrow the Nigerian government and spent 6 months in jail. He was also involved in a successful mission to smuggle £100,000 into Apartheid South Africa to fund trade unions, and in 1988 was present at secret talks in Cuba between Fidel Castro and black South African union leaders. In 2010 Allen was awarded the Kgao ya Bahale award, the highest honour awarded by the South African NUM. After his death he was widely commendated by his fellow academics and activists for his lifelong commitment to worker's rights and racial equality.

rdf:langString Conspiracy to overthrow the government of Nigeria