British Seafarers' Union
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The British Seafarers' Union (BSU) was a
trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...
which organised
sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. While the term ''sailor'' ...
s and
firemen A firefighter (or fire fighter or fireman) is a first responder trained in specific emergency response such as firefighting, primarily to control and extinguish fires and respond to emergencies such as Dangerous goods, hazardous material incide ...
in the British ports of
Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
and Glasgow between 1911/1912 and 1922. Although of considerable local importance, the organisation remained much smaller and less influential at a national level than the National Sailors' and Firemen's Union, (NSFU). The BSU was formed in
Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
on 6 October 1911, as a breakaway from the NSFU. In August 1912, a second breakaway took place in Glasgow, and a branch of the BSU was established in that port. The cause of the split was ostensibly the same in both ports: the rebels claimed that the NSFU was reckless and extravagant with its funds, that members had little control over the direction of the organisation, and that its leading officials were unaccountable. The NSFU itself vigorously denied these allegations. It accused the BSU of sectionalism, and of being the product of the political ambitions of its leading officials, Tommy Lewis and
Manny Shinwell Emanuel Shinwell, Baron Shinwell, (18 October 1884 – 8 May 1986) was a British politician who served as a government minister under Ramsay MacDonald and Clement Attlee. A member of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, he served as a Member of ...
. In June 1912, the BSU took part in the national dock strike of 1912. The NSFU, although affiliated to the body which had called the strike, 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 ...
, refused to support the strike except in London. Unlike the NSFU, the BSU was not granted a role on the National Maritime Board which was formed in 1917 to decide on working practices in the merchant shipping industry. In May 1921, the Board imposed wage reductions which were resisted by both the BSU and the National Union of Ship's Stewards. Later that year, these two organisations were merged to form the
Amalgamated Marine Workers' Union The Amalgamated Marine Workers' Union (AMWU) was a trade union of sailors, Firefighter, firemen and ship-board service personnel which existed in the United Kingdom between 1922 and 1927. It was a merger of the British Seafarers' Union and th ...
, (AMWU).


Sources/further reading

*Arthur Marsh & Victoria Ryan, ''The Seamen – a history of the National Union of Seamen'', (Oxford, 1989). *Arthur Marsh & Victoria Ryan, ''Historical Directory of Trade Unions:Vol 3'', (Aldershot, 1987). *Ken Coates & Tony Topham, ''The Making of the Labour Movement'', (Nottingham, 1994) *WB Jones, Bachelor dissertation "The Strike and the Split:The National Sailors' and Firemen’s Union and the British Seafarers' Union in Southampton, 1911-1913


External links

{{Portal, Organized labour
BSU Archive, Modern Records Centre
1911 establishments in the United Kingdom Defunct trade unions of the United Kingdom Seafarers' trade unions Breakaway trade unions Water transport in the United Kingdom Trade unions established in 1911