Late Tyrone trade unionist to be honoured with new exhibition

A SPECIAL exhibition and lecture will be held next month to honour the life and legacy of one of Tyrone’s greatest ever ambassadors, trade unionist Ann Browne, who passed away in 2000.

The tribute, ‘Our Local Girl Loved Worldwide,’ is taking place at the Alley Theatre in Strabane. The event coincides with the 25th anniversary of Ann’s death and celebrates her tireless advocacy for mineworkers in Bolivia, Chile, and beyond.

Ann was born in Strabane, the youngest of five siblings. She attended Mount Carmel Grammar School before studying Spanish at Queen’s University, Belfast. She later completed a Master’s degree at the Institute of Latin American Studies in London.

In 1974, she began working with the newly-formed ‘Joint Working Group for Refugees from Latin America (JWGRLA)’.

Her involvement with a National Union of Mineworkers delegation to Bolivia and Chile sparked a deep interest in the region’s labour conditions and union movements.

This experience led to her move in 1981 to the Mineworkers’ International Federation (MIF), with offices in London and Brussels.

As Education and Organisation Projects secretary at the MIF, Ann developed long-term educational programmes for trade unionists and miners’ families, particularly miners’ wives, and supported their grassroots organising efforts.

She played a key role in the federation’s global health and safety campaign, even coining its memorable slogan: “The stronger the union, the safer the mine.”

Her efforts culminated in 1995 when the International Labour Organisation approved a landmark convention on mining industry health and safety.

Ann also focused on building international solidarity, forging links between Latin American, US, and European unions. This strategy proved particularly effective in Colombia, where US unionists at Exxon mines supported their Colombian counterparts in negotiating with the corporation.

Ann’s niece, Alana Moore, who will deliver a lecture about her aunt’s life at the opening event on May 1 at 12.30pm, told the Tyrone Herald, “Ann was an amazing person and spent her life fighting for workers’ rights, and our family wanted to do something on what will be the 25th anniversary of her death to mark it.

“When we approached Derry City and Strabane Council and they told us about the council’s Workers Rights and Social Justice Programme, we thought it would be a perfect way to honour her life.”

She added, “The family hopes that through the exhibition and lecture series we can inspire the next generations of socially-minded young people in the town to follow in her footsteps.”

After Ann’s death from cancer in 2000, tributes poured in from Peruvian mining villages, former political refugees from Chile, Uruguay, and Argentina, and trade unions from across the globe, including Finland, Japan, Brazil, Germany, and South Africa, recognising her lasting contributions.

The upcoming exhibition, titled ‘Our Local Girl Loved Worldwide’ will open on May 1 and run throughout the month at the Alley Theatre.

For more information about the exhibition and lecture, visit: www.alley-theatre.com.