The news of the death of Dave Spooner on 20 March 2025 spread sorrow and mourning all over the world among worker-educators who loved him and cherished interacting with him.
Although Dave served for the past 15 years as co-director of the Global Labour Institute (GLI), prior to this he had a long and active service in the International Federation of Workers’ Education Associations (IFWEA), culminating in his position as General Secretary of IFWEA between 2003 to 2007.
On behalf of the current and past Executive Committee members and Affiliates of IFWEA, I wish to express our sadness at his passing. Over the course of his long career Dave inspired us with his dedication to equality and justice for workers, especially the most vulnerable of these, viz. workers in the informal economy. His loss will be severely felt, and we send our heartfelt condolences to his family and close friends.
Dave’s active participation in the IFWEA family began in 1994, when he was appointed the International Secretary of the WEA – UK & Scotland. Ever the internationalist, it was not long before his efforts in this position led to him being elected as the General Secretary of Euro WEA in 1995. He served in this capacity until 1999. Throughout this time, he maintained his position as WEA – UK & Scotland’s International Secretary, finally relinquishing it and being elected as General Secretary of IFWEA in 2003. He served in this capacity until 2007.
Collaborating with different constituencies
During his time in IFWEA, Dave collaborated with workers’ education associations in Europe, Latin America, Asia, Africa and North America – institutions with different contexts and constituencies. Working together, these associations of IFWEA serve as wellsprings of inspiration and knowledge for workers and their organisations nationally, regionally and globally. He generously shared his vast experience and knowledge with them. He was always ready to acknowledge their often thankless but critical work – work that if not done, would have brought the world to this most uncertain of times much sooner, and in ways much worse. A charismatic figure with a strong sense of bonhomie, Dave was always ready for a drink and a laugh. Most of all, he loved the cut and thrusts of debates and intense conversations on workers’ education and its relation to liberation and empowerment.
A life of struggle against oppression and exploitation
In the last 15 years of his life, he co-managed the Global Labour Institute (GLI), working tirelessly with numerous organisations in the informal economy and exploring, through dialogue, research and education, the means for trade unions to improve their organising strategies to include the millions of workers in the most vulnerable and informal work situations. He believed that by transforming themselves, trade unions could help transform the world we live in. He was central to education events in many global trade union federations which pursued these strategies – such as the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) and StreetNet, the global federation for associations of street vendors and allied associations of workers in the informal economy. He also worked closely with and wrote numerous papers for the global labour policy think tank, Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO).
His was a life of struggle against oppression and exploitation and as we mourn his loss, we grab the baton and continue the fight while he rests in eternal peace.
So on behalf of our global knowledge community, I say farewell to comrade Dave, or as we say in South Africa : “Hamba Kahle, Qabane”!!
Saliem Patel, IFWEA General Secretary