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Alonso Beaumont Swales (1870 – 27 September 1952) was a
Alonso Beaumont Swales (1870 – 27 September 1952) was a British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
trade unionist
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and Employee ben ...
.
Born in Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area.
Until the early 1800s, the a ...
, England''The Labour Who's Who: 1927'', p.212 Swales began work in an engineering office before training as a blacksmith. He joined the Amalgamated Society of Engineers
The Amalgamated Society of Engineers (ASE) was a major British trade union, representing factory workers and mechanics.
History
The history of the union can be traced back to the formation of the Journeymen Steam Engine, Machine Makers' and M ...
in 1890, and became an organiser for the union in 1912. He progressed to serve on the union's Executive Committee from 1917, and on the General Council of the Trades Union Congress The General Council of the Trades Union Congress is an elected body which is responsible for carrying out the policies agreed at the annual British Trade Union Congresses (TUC).
Organisation
The council has 56 members, all of whom must be proposed ...
(TUC) from 1919.Hugh Armstrong Clegg
Hugh Armstrong Clegg (22 May 1920 – 9 December 1995) was a British academic who was a founder of the "National Board for Prices and Incomes" (1965–71) and later presided over the " Standing Commission on Pay Comparability" set up by James Cal ...
, ''A History of British Trade Unions Since 1889: 1911-1933'', p.579 He was President of the TUC in 1925, and, during his term of office, he chaired the first meeting of a national organisation of trades council A labour council, trades council or industrial council is an association of labour unions or union branches in a given area. Most commonly, they represent unions in a given geographical area, whether at the district, city, region, or provincial or ...
s.
A long-term member of the Independent Labour Party
The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...
, having joined in 1895, Swales was regarded as the most left-wing member of the TUC General Council during the British General Strike. During the strike, he chaired the TUC's Special Industrial Committee, which co-ordinated contact with the Miners' Federation of Great Britain
The Miners' Federation of Great Britain (MFGB) was established after a meeting of local mining trade unions in Newport, Wales in 1888. The federation was formed to represent and co-ordinate the affairs of local and regional miners' unions in Engla ...
and joint action. He stood to become president of the Engineers in 1930, winning the first round of the ballot, but lost to W. H. Hutchinson in the second round.Hugh Armstrong Clegg, ''A History of British Trade Unions Since 1889: 1911-1933'', p.537
Swales retired from his union posts in 1935, but took a new post as Trustee for the National Union of Seamen
The National Union of Seamen (NUS) was the principal trade union of merchant seafarers in the United Kingdom from the late 1880s to 1990. In 1990, the union amalgamated with the National Union of Railwaymen to form the National Union of Rail ...
.
References