The union that Jim Mortimer joined in 1948 was the Association of Engineering and Shipbuilding Draughtsmen. It only later changed its name to the Draughtsmen's and Allied Technicians' Association, to encompass the radical changes in industry, particularly in electronics, where design and development took place in laboratories, using "breadboards" and oscilloscopes rather than drawing boards. Various mergers since, it is now a very small part of Unite.
Jim's position in the union was as editor of the magazine The Draughtsman. In addition to the usual union news, this always contained wide-ranging debates on both the issues of the day and on the fundamental principles of the Labour and trade union movement. As editor, Jim ensured that different points of view were fairly represented.
But one memory in particular sticks in my mind as a measure of the man. During his tenure as Labour party general secretary, with all the pressures that entailed, he was prepared to come to Harlow, at my invitation, to speak to a ward meeting of about a dozen party members.