Manufacturing, Science and Finance (or the Manufacturing, Science and Finance Union; almost exclusively known as MSF) 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 ( ...

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

. Over eighty members of

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

(primarily members of the Labour Party) were members.

History

The MSF was the result of a merger in January 1988 between the

Association of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staffs The Association of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staffs (ASTMS) was a British trade union which existed between 1969 and 1988. History The ASTMS was created in 1969 when ASSET (the Association of Supervisory Staffs, Executives and Techni ...

(ASTMS) and the

Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section The Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section (TASS) was a British trade union. History The union was founded in 1913 by 200 draughtsmen, as the Association of Engineering and Shipbuilding Draughtsmen (AESD). It expanded rapidly, and ...

(TASS). In 1991, it had 604,000 members, but this fell to 446,000 in 1996, the most rapid decline of any major British union. In 2001 the MSF merged with 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 ...

to form Amicus. The

General Secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

of MSF from 1992 until the merger with Amicus was

Roger Lyons Roger Lyons (born 14 September 1942) was the General Secretary of the MSF trade union from 1992 and re-elected leader of the union in 1997. When the union merged with the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union to form Amicus in 2002 he sub ...

, who continued as Joint General Secretary of Amicus's MSF section. In 2007 Amicus merged with the

TGWU 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 ...

to form

Unite Unite may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Albums * ''Unite'' (A Friend in London album), 2013 album by Danish band A Friend in London * ''Unite'' (Kool & the Gang album), 1993 * ''Unite'' (The O.C. Supertones album), 2005 Songs ...

Amalgamations

Several unions amalgamated with the MSF: * 1988: Church of England Children's Society Staff Association, Imperial Supervisors' Association, United Friendly Field Management Staff AssociationGary N. Chaison, ''Union Mergers in Hard Times: The View from Five Countries'', pp.175-184 * 1989: Imperial Group Staff Association * 1990:

Health Visitors' Association The Community Practitioners and Health Visitors Association is a Trade union and professional association for health care staff in the UK and Ireland. It is part of Unite the Union. Its 18,500 members include health visitors, school nurses, nurse ...

* 1991: Australian Mutual Provident Society * 1993: Hospital Physicists Association,

National Union of Scalemakers The National Union of Scalemakers was a trade union representing workers involved in making weighing scales in the United Kingdom and Ireland. History In 1909, a strike occurred among scalemakers at Messrs Hodgson and Stead, in Manchester. Foll ...

"The British merger movement", Industrial Relations Journal, Vol.30, No.5John B. Smethurst and Peter Carter, ''Historical Directory of Trade Unions'', vol.6, p.199 * 1994: Ceron Research Staff Association * 1997: College of Health Care Chaplains * 1998:

Communication Managers' Association The Communication Managers' Association (CMA) was a trade union representing managers in the United Kingdom, principally those working for the Post Office. The union was founded in 1952 with the merger of the Post Office Controlling Officers' Ass ...

* 1999: Britannic Supervisory Union, Corporation of London Staff Association,

National Union of Insurance Workers {{short description, Former trade union of the United Kingdom The National Union of Insurance Workers (NUIW) was a trade union representing workers in the insurance industry in the United Kingdom. The union was formed in 1964, when the National Am ...

, Neilson Staff Association * 2000: Lloyds Registry Staff Association,

Union of Textile Workers The Amalgamated Society of Textile Workers and Kindred Trades (ASTWKT) was a trade union representing textile workers, principally silk manufacturing, in the United Kingdom. Leek Textile Federation By 1907, Leek had eight small trade unions rep ...

Peter Carter and John B. Smethurst, ''Historical Directory of Trade Unions: Volume 6'', p.116 * 2001: Leicester Housing Association Staff Association

Leadership

General Secretaries

:1988:

Clive Jenkins David Clive Jenkins (2 May 1926 – 22 September 1999) was a British trade union leader. "Organising the middle classes", his stated recreation in ''Who's Who'', sums up both his sense of humour and his achievements in the British trade union mov ...

and

Ken Gill Ken Gill (30 August 1927 – 23 May 2009) was a British trade union leader. He was the General Secretary of the Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section (TASS), from 1974 to 1988, when it merged with ASTMS to form the Manufacturing, Sc ...

:1988:

:1992:

Assistant General Secretaries

:1988: Roger Lyons and

Barbara Switzer Barbara Switzer (née McMinn; born 26 November 1940) is a former British trade unionist. She grew up in Manchester, attending Chorlton Central School and Stretford Technical College, where she completed a City & Guilds certificate as an electrical ...

:1992: John Chowcat and Barbara Switzer :1997: John Chowcat :1999: ''Post vacant''

References

External links

Catalogue of the MSF archives
held at the

Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick The Modern Records Centre (MRC) is the specialist archive service of the University of Warwick in Coventry, England, located adjacent to the Central Campus Library. It was established in October 1973 and holds the world's largest archive collecti ...

Defunct trade unions of the United Kingdom 1988 establishments in the United Kingdom Trade unions established in 1988 Trade unions disestablished in 2001 {{UK-org-stub