I met Mike Cooley in 1970, when I was working with the Cinema Action collective on the film Fighting the Bill, made as a campaigning tool to oppose the Tory government’s anti-trade union legislation.
Mike was more than happy to collaborate with us and delivered a fiery speech, which I filmed, explaining how invidious this proposed legislation would be for the trade union movement. Although a militant, Mike was no rabble-rouser but a mild-mannered man and profound thinker.
His ideas on converting arms factories into centres of peaceful manufacturing, producing environmentally sustainable means of transport, equipment for the health service and aids for people with disabilities were far ahead of their time. He was a visionary thinker, whose ideas were sadly ignored not only by the powers that be but also by many of his trade union colleagues.
