Tillett, Ben(jamin) (1860–1943)

English trade union leader and politician. He became general secretary of the powerful Dockers' Union, and was a principal organizer of national strikes that hit Britain's docks in 1889 and 1911. He sat as Labour MP for North Salford, Lancashire, 1917–24 and 1929–31.

Tillett was born in Bristol, and worked in a brickworks before joining the Royal Navy. Active in the Trades Union Congress, and serving briefly as its president in 1929, he helped put the general labour unions on an equal footing with the skilled craftsmen's organizations.