James Fulton (1868 – May 1925) was a Scottish trade unionist. Born in Glasgow, Fulton worked as an iron moulder, joining the

Associated Iron Moulders of Scotland The Associated Iron Moulders of Scotland (AIMS) was a trade union representing foundry workers in Scotland. The union was created in 1831 as the Scottish Iron Moulders' Union. Its founder was James Dunn, a former cotton worker who had been blac ...

(AIMS) union, and also 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 ...

. He was elected to the union's executive council, and by the early 1910s was its vice-chair. In 1913, Fulton was elected as one of three assistant secretaries of AIMS, alongside John Whyte and Robert Smith, with a remit to focus on the new benefits scheme administered by the union. He proved successful, and in August 1918 he was elected as general secretary of the union. He worked closely with the union's president, Tom Bell, and supported the

Clyde Workers' Committee The Clyde Workers Committee was formed to campaign against the Munitions Act. It was originally called the ''Labour Withholding Committee''. The leader of the CWC was Willie Gallacher, who was jailed under the Defence of the Realm Act 1914 to ...

, giving strike pay to its members who took industrial action. With the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, employment in the foundries declined, and the union's membership fell. In 1920, AIMS merged with several other unions, to form the

National Union of Foundry Workers The National Union of Foundry Workers (NUFW) was a trade union representing workers in foundries in the United Kingdom. History The union was founded in 1920 with the merger of the Associated Iron Moulders of Scotland, the Amalgamated Society of ...

. Fulton was elected as the union's assistant general secretary, then in 1922 he won election as general secretary. Given the difficult position of the union, he stated that "I do not know whether congratulations or sympathies are most appropriate to anyone elected to the General Secretaryship of a Trade Union at the present time". The

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extended credit to the union, the journal was put out quarterly rather than monthly, and the union proposed higher contributions and lower benefits to members. This stabilised the union's finances, although membership continued to fall. Fulton became ill in 1925, but kept his condition secret until his death in May.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fulton, James 1868 births 1925 deaths General secretaries of British trade unions Trade unionists from Glasgow