The Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU) was a major
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 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 ( ...
. It merged with the
Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union
The Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union, known as the EETPU, was a British trade union formed in 1968 as a union for electricians and plumbers, which went through three mergers from 1992 to now be part of Unite the Un ...
to form the
Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union
The Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union (AEEU) was a British trade union. It merged with the MSF to form Amicus in 2001.
History
The union was founded in 1992, when the Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU) finally achieved a merger w ...
in 1992.
History
The history of the union can be traced back to the formation of the
Journeymen Steam Engine, Machine Makers' and Millwrights' Friendly Society, in 1826, popularly known as the "Old Mechanics". They invited a large number of other unions to become part of what became 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 ...
(ASE).
[Arthur Marsh and Victoria Ryan, ''Historical Directory of British Trade Unions'', vol.3, pp.12-16]
In 1920, the ASE put out a fresh call for other unions to merge with it in a renamed Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU). Seventeen unions balloted their members on a possible merger, and nine voted in favour of amalgamation:
*
*
Amalgamated Instrument Makers' Society
*
Amalgamated Society of General Tool Makers, Engineers and Machinists
* East of Scotland Brass Founders' Society
* London United Metal Turners', Fitters' and Finishers' Society
* North of England Brass Turners', Fitters' and Finishers' Society
*
Steam Engine Makers' Society
The Steam Engine Makers' Society (SEM) was an early trade union representing engineers in the United Kingdom.
The union was founded in Liverpool in 1824, and was able to meet openly in Manchester by 1826, despite the Combination Act 1825 severely ...
(SEM)
*
United Kingdom Society of Amalgamated Smiths and Strikers
The United Kingdom Society of Amalgamated Smiths and Strikers was a trade union representing foundry workers in the United Kingdom.
The union's origins lay in the Sons of Vulcan Smiths and Strikers, a union representing workers in northern Engl ...
*
United Machine Workers' Association
{{Infobox union
, name = United Machine Workers' Association
, location_country= United Kingdom
, affiliation = TUC, FEST, GFTU
, members =14,000 (1915)
, full_name =
, image =
, founded = 1844
, dissolved =1920 ...
The resulting union had a membership of 450,000,
about 300,000 coming from the ASE.
In 1922 employers, represented by the
Engineering Employers' Federation Make UK, formerly the Engineering Employers' Federation, represents manufacturers in the United Kingdom.
Purpose
Make UK provides businesses with advice, guidance and support in employment law, employee relations, health, safety, climate and envi ...
, launched an industry-wide
lockout
Lockout may refer to:
* Lockout (industry), a type of work stoppage
**Dublin Lockout, a major industrial dispute between approximately 20,000 workers and 300 employers 1913 - 1914
* Lockout (sports), lockout in sports leagues
**MLB lockout, lock ...
in an attempt to reverse the gains made by the AEU during WWI and its aftermath.
[ Exploiting the downturn in economic conditions in the engineering industry, they demanded the union forfeit control over ]overtime
Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways:
*by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society), ...
. The lockout lasted from 11 March to 13 June and involved 260,000 workers, 90,000 of them represented by the AEU. The lockout ended with the union conceding some of the employers' demands.[
The AEU continued to grow and absorb smaller unions. From 1926, it accepted members who had not completed an apprenticeship. In 1933, it had 168,000 members, and 390,900 by the end of the decade. Its largest membership growth came during the ]Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
when its all-male membership voted to admit women for the first time and 100,000 joined almost immediately, membership reaching 825,000 by 1943. It admitted women due to the increasing role of female industrial workers in the British home front, as well as to prevent either female workers joining rival unions or non-union female workers from undercutting union wages. However, the AEU also lost its overseas branches in Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
, and South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
, which became independent unions.
From the 1940s, the AEU also absorbed various smaller unions: the Amalgamated Society of Glass Works Engineers
Amalgamation is the process of combining or uniting multiple entities into one form.
Amalgamation, amalgam, and other derivatives may refer to:
Mathematics and science
* Amalgam (chemistry), the combination of mercury with another metal
**Pan am ...
, , , Leeds Spindle and Flyer Makers' Trade and Friendly Society, , and the Turners', Fitters' and Instrument Makers' Union.
The AEU merged with the Amalgamated Union of Foundry Workers __NOTOC__
The Amalgamated Union of Foundry Workers (AUFW) was a trade union representing workers in foundries in the United Kingdom.
The union was founded in 1946 with the merger of the National Union of Foundry Workers, the Ironfounding Workers' ...
(AUFW) on 1 January 1968 to form the Amalgamated Union of Engineering and Foundry Workers (AEF), and with the Draughtsmen and Allied Technicians' Association (DATA) and Constructional Engineering Union
The Constructional Engineering Union (CEU) was a trade union representing steel erectors and other workers involved in steel construction in the United Kingdom.
History
The union was founded in 1924 as a section of the Iron and Steel Trades Co ...
in 1971 to form the Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers (AUEW). The union was now organised on a federal basis, with four sections: Engineering, Foundry, Construction, and Technical, Administrative and Supervisory (TASS). This approach was not a success, as the various sections fell into dispute with each other. In 1984, the Engineering, Foundry and Construction Sections were merged and in 1986 adopted the name Amalgamated Engineering Union once more, while the TASS remained separate and, in 1988, it became entirely independent of the union once more.[Chris Cook, ''The Routledge Guide to British Political Archives: Sources since 1945'', pp.223-224]
Despite this series of amalgamations, declines in the number of workers in heavy industry saw membership drop from a peak of 1,483,400 in 1979, to 858,000 in 1986. The AEU became a mainstay of the moderate right in the trade union movement through the 1980s and 1990s, leading the manufacturing unions in 1989–1991 in a successful push for a shorter working week, but failing to merge with a number of unions, notally the Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians
The Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians (UCATT) was a British and Irish trade union, operating in the construction industry. It was founded in 1971, and merged into Unite on 1 January 2017.
It was affiliated to the Trades Un ...
.
In 1992 the AEU finally achieved a merger with the Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union
The Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union, known as the EETPU, was a British trade union formed in 1968 as a union for electricians and plumbers, which went through three mergers from 1992 to now be part of Unite the Un ...
, EETPU, after a hundred years of off and on discussions. The new union took the name Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union
The Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union (AEEU) was a British trade union. It merged with the MSF to form Amicus in 2001.
History
The union was founded in 1992, when the Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU) finally achieved a merger w ...
.
Elections results
Like the ASE before it, the AEU affiliated to the Labour Party, sponsoring candidates at each election, many of whom won seats in Parliament.
Leadership
General Secretaries
;AEU
:1921: Albert Smethurst
Albert Harry Smethurst (19 August 1868 – 11 November 1935) was a British trade unionist. Born in Oldham, Smethurst completed an apprenticeship as an engineer and became active in the Amalgamated Society of Engineers (ASE), soon becoming it ...
:1933: Fred A. Smith
:1943: Benjamin Gardner
:1956: Cecil Hallett
Cecil Walter Hallett (10 December 1899 – 5 December 1994) was a British trade unionist.
Born in London, Hallett left school aged fourteen. He worked as a messenger before securing an apprenticeship as a fitter and turner in Beckton. In 1 ...
:1965: Jim Conway
;AEF/AUEW
;AEU
:1988: Gavin Laird
Sir Gavin Harry Laird (14 March 1933 – 26 October 2017) was a Scottish trade unionist, who became General Secretary of the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union (AEEU) and a Member of the Court of the Bank of England.
Growing up in C ...
Presidents
:1920: James Thomas Brownlie
James Thomas Brownlie (23 June 1865 – 13 October 1938) was a British trade unionist and politician.
Born in Port Glasgow, Brownlie was educated at Wason’s Academy in Paisley. Who Was Who,Brownlie, James Thomas He became an apprentice bla ...
:1931: William Harold Hutchinson
William Harold Hutchinson (25 April 1878''1939 England and Wales Register'' – 19 May 1965) was a British people, British trade unionist and Labour Party (UK), Labour Party activist.
Educated to secondary school level, Hutchinson became active ...
:1933: John C. Little
:1939: Jack Tanner
:1953: Robert Openshaw
Robert Openshaw (1891 – 6 November 1962) was a British trade unionist.
Born in Bolton, Openshaw was a keen cricketer, and once took all ten wickets in a Bolton Cricket League match. He moved to Crewe to find work, and became an engineer ...
:1956: William Carron
William John Carron, Baron Carron, KSG, FRSA (19 November 1902 – 3 December 1969) was a British trade unionist and activist, who served as President of the Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU) from 1956 until 1967.
Early life
Carron was born ...
:1968: Hugh Scanlon
Hugh Parr Scanlon, Baron Scanlon (26 October 1913 – 27 January 2004) was a British trade union leader.
Scanlon was born in Melbourne, to parents who had emigrated from Britain. His mother brought him back from Australia to the UK when he ...
:1978: Terry Duffy
:1986: Bill Jordan
References
External links
Catalogue of the AEU, AEF, and AUEW archives
held at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick
Catalogue of further AUEW archives
held at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick
Catalogue of the AUEW Construction Section archives
held at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick
Catalogue of the AEF/AUEW Foundry Section archives
held at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick
{{Portal, Organized labour
Defunct trade unions of the United Kingdom
Engineering trade unions
1920 establishments in the United Kingdom
Trade unions established in 1920
Trade unions disestablished in 1992
Trade unions based in London