My father, John Pennington, who has died aged 94, was a civil servant, a socialist and a trade union activist who was national president of the Society of Civil and Public Servants. Born in Aughton, Lancashire, to James Pennington, a farm labourer, and Amy (nee Balmer), a seamstress, he attended St Edward’s RC secondary school in Liverpool, leaving in 1945 intending to study English, history and classics at Liverpool University. Finding it oversubscribed with demobbed soldiers, he trained as a teacher at Bangor Normal College, north Wales. He spent his national service as a staff sergeant in the Royal Army Education Corps, teaching illiterate young soldiers whose education had been affected by war and poverty. Stationed in Germany and Austria, he developed a love of the language and music of the region, signing on for a further five years with his regiment. In 1950, he met Agnes Starbuck on a blind date in Liverpool and they married in 1952 and settled on the Wirral peninsula. After their first child was born in 1953, John bought himself out of the army for the sum of £60 and joined the civil service as a customs and excise officer. He had great humanity and believed in fighting for fairness in the workplace. From 1955 he worked tirelessly for trade union members, becoming president of the Customs and Excise group, a national union, in 1973. When it merged with the Society of Civil Servants in 1975, he became president of the merged union, the Society of Civil and Public Servants. John was instrumental in campaigns for union recognition, notably the Grunwick dispute (1976-78) and at GCHQ in 1984. A Labour party member, he held officerships as secretary and chair on the Wirral at branch, district and constituency level. John took early retirement from Customs and Excise and from his union activity in 1985 to care for Agnes, who had some disabilities. He continued to serve on the Civil Service Appeal Board until 1997, and was a governor at Hillside primary school, Noctorum. He enjoyed following politics, rambling, birdwatching, music, his beloved garden, and tackling the Guardian cryptic crossword daily. He also learned to speak German, practising on the locals during trips to Germany and Austria with his eldest daughter. Agnes died in 1999. John is survived by their five children, Miriam, Martin, Louise, Richard and me, 14 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.