Born in Middlesbrough, England, Douglass entered work at the age of 13, becoming a steel melter.
He immediately joined the Iron and Steel Trades Confederation, and became a member of its executive council in 1933.
Two years later, he was appointed as a full-time organiser for the union, then rose to become Assistant General Secretary in 1945 and finally General Secretary in 1953,[1] serving until 1967.
[2] Douglass also chaired the British Productivity Council,[1] and served as the President of the Trades Union Congress in 1967.
[3] On retirement he was created a life peer on 22 September 1967, taking the title Baron Douglass of Cleveland, of Cleveland in the County of York.