Trade unionist

Born in Senglea, John Francis was the son of Daniel Marks, a Jewish; born in Warsaw, Poland and Concetta née Chetcuti. Marks was educated at the Lyceum and the Dockyard College. In 1907 he joined the Dockyard as engine-fitter apprentice and was later appointed draughtsman and leading draughtsman, M.E. Department.

Marks was a dedicated trade unionist and staunch defender of the working classes. He worked hard for the promotion of the Maltese language. To achieve this aim, in 1930, he set up the ‘Kamra ta’ Qari Malti’ in the Labour Party club in Senglea, where he was also the Club’s promoter and president.

According to Robert Marks, the son of John Francis, ‘back in 1927, when president of the Labour Party in Senglea, hen organised the first celebration of Labour Day (celebrated as May Day). In 1929 he managed to persuade the party executive to have May Day included in the statute book as an annual celebration.’

Besides being an essayist and novelist, Marks was an assiduous contributor to papers with Labourite and working-class tendencies. Together with two other trade unionists, in 1929 he drafted a Maltese Language Bill for the introduction of Maltese into the law courts.

In 1926 Marks was elected financial secretary of the Union of Dockyard Employees and also sat on the MTUC on its behalf. During the War Bonus Question in 1942-1943, he resuscitated the Dockyard and Imperial Workers’ Union. In 1942 he formed part of the Malta War Bonus Commission.

‘Is-Sur Johnny’, as he was popularly known, was amongst the main protagonists in the discussions for the increase in the cost of living war bonus and workers rights in 1943. But despite all Marks’s efforts, the Dockyard and Imperial Workers’ Union had lost its grip on the Services workers, especially at the Dockyard. It was officially dissolved in 1944 and Marks ceased his trade unionistic activities.

Marks was the sparkling light of the political labour movement in Senglea. He also organized the first Labour Day in the mid-thirties. He served on the national executive of the Labour Party as member (1925 and 1931), vice-president (1929), and treasurer (1930). After the Labour Party’s split in 1949, he joined Dr Boffa’s MWP. He was awarded the Imperial Service Medal (1953).

Marks is the author of Tejbilhom Ħajjithom (1937-1939), Dockyard & Imperial Workers’ Union (1943), Macleod Report, Comments (1944), and the farce-parody Il Lingwa Nostra (1932).

Marks married Emanuela Said in August 1920 and they had four children. He died at his residnce in Sliema.

This biography is part of the collection created by Michael Schiavone over a 30-year period. Read more about Schiavone and his initiative here.