Douglas John Walker Coward (30 June 1915 – 14 December 1978) was a British trade union leader, who briefly led the Post Office Engineering Union (POEU).
[3] Coward joined the POEU in 1946 as its deputy general secretary, with a strong reputation as a negotiator with a focus on detail.
In 1947, Edwards was appointed as a minister and went on leave, and in June, Coward was elected as general secretary of the union.
[4] Coward's period running the union was difficult, struggling with the effects of a reorganisation of the Post Office in 1946, and with his approach criticised by members of the union who found him remote.
He went on leave until July, but his health did not recover, and in April 1952, he resigned, to take easier work.