The Amalgamated Carters, Lurrymen and Motormen's Union was a

trade union 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 benefits ( ...

representing commercial road transport workers in the north of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

History

The union was founded in

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish people, Flemish weavers settled in the area i ...

in 1890, as the Bolton and District Carters and Lurrymen's Union. It initially grew rapidly, and had 4,149 members by 1892, but this fell to 2,500 the following year. It then grew slowly, reaching 4,000 members again in 1910. The union began recruiting in other areas of northern England, and changed its name to the Amalgamated Carters and Lurrymen's Union, and eventually added "Motormen" to its name. In 1917, the union joined the

National Transport Workers' Federation The National Transport Workers' Federation (NTWF) was an association of British trade unions. It was formed in 1910 to co-ordinate the activities of various organisations catering for dockers, seamen, tramwaymen and road transport workers. History ...

, and in 1920 it became the North of England Commercial Section of the

United Vehicle Workers The United Vehicle Workers was a trade union representing drivers in the United Kingdom. The union was founded in 1919 when the London and Provincial Union of Licensed Vehicle Workers merged with the Amalgamated Association of Tramway and Vehicl ...

. At the start of 1922, the United Vehicle Workers merged into the new

Transport and General Workers' Union The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU or T&G) was one of the largest general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland – where it was known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union (ATGWU) to differentiate its ...

(TGWU), but the North of England Commercial Section retained a high degree of autonomy, and by 1923 had nearly 9,000 members. Only in 1968 was it was fully amalgamated into the TGWU.{{cite book , last1=Smethurst , first1=John B. , last2=Carter , first2=Peter , title=Historical Directory of Trade Unions , date=2009 , publisher=Ashgate , location=Farnham , isbn=9780754666837 , pag
179
, url=https://archive.org/details/historicaldirect0004mars/page/179

General Secretaries

:1890s: John Warburton :c.1900: John Parr :1924: Arthur Haines :1929: John W. Walker :1930s: O. Brooks :1942: Fred Eastwood :1943: James Yates :1964: Arthur Quarmby

References

Transport and General Workers' Union amalgamations Trade unions established in 1890 Trade unions disestablished in 1920 Bolton Trade unions based in Greater Manchester