Speaking of microphones, audibility was something of a problem on the first day of the EIS conference in Perth City Hall. President Moira McCrossan advised next morning: “Point the microphone towards your mouth.” Realising her gaffe, she hurriedly added: “If you’re speaking from somewhere else, that’s your problem.”
One Clyde-built activist and Socialist Workers’ Party member who will no longer hog the mike - wherever he is speaking from - is Jimmy Ross, who retires at the end of the month.
Ross almost saw his union career end with a whimper during the debate on Catholic schools after Fife secretary Peter Quigley referred to appointment practices in Catholic schools as “fascist”.
Ross ran to the podium. “Ye cannae let that be the last speech,” he cried, drawing from Quigley a stinker of a look. Being on the losing side is something Red Ross is well used to.
