Gregor Gall is a British left-wing academic and writer, who has taught at several British universities.
Career
He was professor of industrial relations at the University of Bradford and before then professors of industrial relations at the University of Stirling and the University of Hertfordshire. He is now an affiliate research associate at the University of Glasgow and a visiting professor at the University of Leeds. He researches and writes primarily about trade unions, and has a particular interest in the labour movementpolitics of Scotland – for example, he is working on a research project examining union leadership and the disproportionate contribution of Scots to the British-wide union movement at senior levels. He is author and editor of numerous academic books, and is also a politically engaged academic, whereby he has regularly contributed to the Morning Star, The Guardian's "Comment is free" website, the Frontline magazine, The Conversation, The Scotsman, The Huffington Post and a number of other media like the journal of the Aslef train drivers' Locomotive union. He also provides research and consultancy to a number of unions, particularly the Fire Brigades Union, and is a frequent commentator in the media on matters of unions and industrial conflict. He was also a correspondent for Planetlabor from 2009 to 2016.
Political views
Originally a member of Labour Students and the Labour Party from 1985, he ended his membership of these in 1988 over the issue of the poll tax, then joining the Socialist Workers' Party in 1990. He joined the Scottish Socialist Party in advance of the SWP joining en masse, leaving the SWP in 2004 after many years of growing disagreements. He has been a member of the editorial board of the Scottish Left Review since 2003, is editor of its book arm, the Scottish Left Review Press, and has been the editor of the journal of the Scottish Labour History Society, called Scottish Labour History since 2008. Following the resignation of Robin McAlpine as Director of the Jimmy Reid Foundation and Editor of the Scottish Left Review to concentrate on the Commonweal, Gall has stepped in as Director and Editor. Gall has been a member of the board of management of the Jimmy Reid Foundation since its inception. He has written a lengthy and detailed biography of Tommy Sheridan, and is working on a history of the SSP.
In late 2013, he published his contribution to the case for independence in Scotland entitled Scotland the brave? Independence and radical social change. The key arguments concerned not relying on the SNP and establishing a connection between the material grievances of ordinary citizens and the possibilities of higher standards of living and better life chances under independence as a result of rolling back the tentacles of neo-liberalism.
Biography of Bob Crow
Following the sudden and unexpected death of RMT general secretary, Bob Crow, in March 2014, Gall has written a political biography of him, examining what lessons can be learnt for the union movement from his style of leadership in espousing militant, oppositional politics. The biography was published by Manchester University Press in March 2017 on the third anniversary of his death.
Publications
;As author
The Meaning of Militancy? Postal workers and industrial relations, 2003, Ashgate,, pp350.
The Political Economy of Scotland: Red Scotland? Radical Scotland?, 2005, University of Wales Press,, pp260.
Sex Worker Union Organizing: An International Study, 2006, Palgrave,, pp252.
Labour Unionism in the Financial Services Sector: struggling for rights and representation, Ashgate, 2008, pp212,
Tommy Sheridan: From Hero to Zero? A Political Biography, Welsh Academic Press, 2012, pp360,.
An Agency of Their Own: sex worker union organising, Zero, 2012, pp97,.
Scotland the brave? Independence and radical social change, Scottish Left Review Press, 2013, pp60,.
Sex worker unionisation: global developments, challenges and possibilities, Palgrave, 2016, pp240,.
Bob Crow – fighter, leader, socialist, Manchester University Press, 2017,.
Employment Relations in Financial Services: an exploration of the employee experience after the financial crash, Palgrave 2017, pp260.
The Punk Rock Politics of Joe Strummer: resistance, rebellion and radicalism, Manchester University Press, 2022.
Scarlet Scotland – the paradox of radicalism, Welsh Academic Press, 2023.
;As editor
Union Organising: campaigning for trade union recognition. Edited collection, 2003, Routledge,, pp272.
Union Recognition: Organising and Bargaining Outcomes. Edited collection, 2006, Routledge,, pp260.
Is there a Scottish Road to Socialism? 2007, Scottish Left Review Press, Glasgow,, pp137.
Union Revitalisation in Advanced Economies: assessing the contribution of ‘union organising’, Palgrave, 2009,, pp240.
The Future of Union Organising – building for tomorrow, Palgrave, 2009,, pp256.
New Forms and Expressions of Conflict at Work, Palgrave, 2013,, pp272.
Time to choose: is there a Scottish road to socialism? 2013, Scottish Left Review Press, Glasgow, second edition, pp196,.
Is there a Scottish road to socialism? 2016, Scottish Left Review Press, Glasgow, third edition,.
The International Handbook of Labour, Work and Employment, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, 2019.
Handbook on Labour Unions, Agenda Publishers, Newcastle, 2022.
; As co-editor
The International Handbook of Labour Unions: Responses to Neo-liberalism, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, 2011,.
Global anti-unionism – nature, dynamics, trajectories and outcomes, Palgrave, 2013,.
