[4][7][6] He often argued with the other members of the school over political debates, reading Labour Research and buying the Daily Worker with his lunch money to back his arguments.

[4][6] He became interested in James Klugmann's writings on Christian Marxism, and by the age of 15 he was getting into trouble with right-wing teachers over political debates.

[4][6] In 1973 Stevenson joined the UCATT construction union, and alongside fellow communist Pete Carter they worked together to unionise building sites in Coventry.

[4][6] In one instance, Stevenson clashed with the manager of a building site during an attempted occupation that led to the famous Rotunda legal case.

[6][8] Many months after the attempted occupation, Stevenson and his colleagues were arrested by the police and charged with 'conspiracy to trespass', with potentially unlimited penalties.

[1][6] Together they redeveloped the Birmingham CPGB Communist Party premises into a social club, heavily featuring Jamaican Reggae music.

[1] This social club became a home for many members of Birmingham's black communities, including the future general secretary of the TGWU, Bill Morris.

[1][6][9] In this capacity he also played a leading role in the founding and running of the European Transport Workers Federation, a union with 2 million members.

ITF President Paddy Crumlin praised Stevenson's legacy:"He was a trade unionist to his bones and lived a life of campaigning, organising and mass mobilisation in the defence of social and community values, including the fight against privatisation, industrial deregulation and discrimination in any form, but particularly on the basis of gender, age and ethnicity.