Born in Glasgow, Garland completed an apprenticeship as an iron moulder, and became an activist in the Amalgamated Union of Foundry Workers (AUFW).
He took evening classes with the University of Glasgow before winning a Trades Union Congress scholarship to attend the London School of Economics.
[2] He ran for the general secretaryship of the union in 1954 on an anti-communist platform, but was narrowly defeated, taking 17,694 votes to incumbent Jim Gardner's 18,546.
[6] In 1962, he was sentenced to three months in prison for driving while intoxicated, but this was commuted to a £100 fine after Jim Callaghan argued that he was the best-placed person to advise the Somali government on trade unionism.
[2] Simpson resigned in 1974 to become chairman of the Health and Safety Commission,[2] and Garland was elected to fill his post, beating a single opponent by 19,000 votes to 12,000, and taking office on 30 December.