WELSH trade union members and politicians joined descendants of Dic Penderyn yesterday to commemorate the execution of Wales’s first trade union martyr and the events leading up to the Merthyr Rising.

The annual march and memorial service at a church in Aberavon took place as the campaign continues to secure a crown pardon for Penderyn, who was wrongly hanged for stabbing a solider during the 1831 uprising.

A petition has been presented to the Department for Justice and National Union of Teachers rep Steffan ap Daffyd said: “There is strong evidence to suggest that the ruling judge was negligent in his determination.”

PCS union member Roy Davies said: “In 1831, Merthyr was awash with debt and trade unions were suppressed and outlawed.

“In the 21st century, while Welsh Labour has moved to protect workplace organisation, we still witness mounting attacks and some of the highest levels of poverty anywhere in Europe. The fight for an equal an fair society continues in the radical Welsh tradition.”