Bill Morris is a former British trade union leader, General Secretary of the Transport and General Workers’ Union from 1992 to 2003, and the first black leader of a major British trade union. Born in Manchester Parish, Jamaica, Bill’s mother emigrated to England to find work after the death of Bill’s father, a part-time policeman. Bill’s mother settled in Handsworth, Birmingham, and he joined her in the UK in 1954. There, he found work at Hardy Spicer Engineering, a local car parts manufacturer. 

Bill arrived to build a better life and seize the opportunities post-war Britain promised its Commonwealth citizens. Still, like many Caribbean immigrants at the time, he quickly discovered that the reality was far from welcoming. Bill encountered racial discrimination in his public and professional lives, experiences that deeply shaped his views on equality and justice. In 1958, he joined the Transport and General Workers’ Union. After serving on the TGWU General Executive Council (the GEC) from 1972 to 1973, he joined the union as a full-time official. He served as district officer of the Nottingham District from 1973 to 1976 and district secretary of the Northampton District from 1976 to 1979. 

In 1979, Bill became national secretary of the Passenger Services Trade Group and was elected deputy general secretary on 18th September 1985, working under general secretary Ron Todd. In 1992, he was elected general secretary due to Ron Todd’s retirement and was re-elected in 1995. Bill was a member of the TUC General Council and executive committee from 1988 to 2003 and was appointed a non-executive director of the Bank of England in 1998. He was also a member of the Royal Commission on the Reform of the House of Lords from 1999 to 2000.