Edwin Smith (died 1945) 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 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 ( ...

leader. Smith worked as a printers' assistant for various magazines and newspapers. He joined the Printers' Labourers' Union, and became

Father of the Chapel A union representative, union steward, or shop steward is an employee of an organization or company who represents and defends the interests of their fellow employees as a labor union member and official. Rank-and-file members of the union hold ...

firstly at '' The Field'', then at ''

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

'', and finally at the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...

''. In 1897, he became the chair of the union, and argued for it to change its name to reflect the fact that most of its members were skilled workers who would not generally be regarded as labourers. This was approved, and at the start of 1899 the union was renamed as the "Operative Printers' Assistants Union". In 1897, Michael Vaughan was elected as general secretary of the union, but in 1898 he permitted a lapsed member of the society to remain on the ballot to replace Smith as the union's chair. The union's executive viewed this as dereliction of duty, and removed him from office. Smith was appointed as acting general secretary, and he then beat James Keep by 924 votes to 147 in an election, to win the position on a permanent basis. As leader of the union, Smith focused on centralising its organisation and finances. He transferred its banking to the London Trading Bank, and was able to employ a clerk to assist him. He affiliated the union with the London Printing and Kindred Trades Federation in 1901, and the following year, he represented it at the refounding of the national

Printing and Kindred Trades Federation The Printing and Kindred Trades Federation (P&KTF) was a trade union federation in the United Kingdom. History The federation was established at a conference in Manchester on 8 September 1890, organised on the initiative of George D. Kelley. Th ...

. The union only operated in London until 1904, but Smith then toured the country, establishing new branches in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

and

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

. In 1907 he moved the union's offices to Caxton House on

Blackfriars Road Blackfriars Road is a road in Southwark, SE1. It runs between St George's Circus at the southern end and Blackfriars Bridge over the River Thames at the northern end, leading to the City of London. Halfway up on the west side is Southwark Und ...

, and he also established a

superannuation A pension (, from Latin ''pensiō'', "payment") is a fund into which a sum of money is added during an employee's employment years and from which payments are drawn to support the person's retirement from work in the form of periodic payments ...

scheme for members. He kept the union out of party politics, and personally generally identified with the Liberal-Labour tradition. In the second half of 1908, the union had to make numerous unexpected welfare payments to members. This led to a financial crisis, and Smith retired abruptly, to be replaced by

George Isaacs George Alfred Isaacs JP DL (28 May 1883 – 26 April 1979) was a British politician and trades unionist who served in the government of Clement Attlee. Isaacs was born in Finsbury to a Methodist family. He married Flora Beasley (1884–1 ...

. Smith moved to Canada, but the union remained appreciative of his service. When he visited London in 1925, the union sent him a formal letter greeting him and wishing him well.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Eddie Year of birth missing 1945 deaths British emigrants to Canada General secretaries of British trade unions