The Mental Hospital and Institutional Workers' Union 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 ( ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. The union was established as the National Asylum Workers' Union in 1910Papers of the National Asylum Workers' Union and the Mental Hospital and Institutional Workers' Union held by Warwick University
/ref> by asylum attendants in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

. George Gibson became its General Secretary in 1912, and served in post for the remainder of the union's existence. In 1918 it organised strikes at

Prestwich Hospital Prestwich Hospital was a mental health facility in Prestwich, Greater Manchester, England. History The site was selected at Prestwich Woods and acquired from Oswald Milne, a solicitor, in 1847. The hospital was designed by Isaac Holden, a Manche ...

Whittingham Hospital Whittingham Hospital was a psychiatric hospital in the parish of Whittingham, near Preston, Lancashire, England. The hospital opened in 1873 as the Fourth Lancashire County Asylum and grew to be the largest mental hospital in Britain, and pionee ...

and

Bodmin Hospital Bodmin Hospital is a community hospital in Bodmin, Cornwall, England. It is managed by the Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. History A new facility was procured under a Private Finance Initiative contract in 2000 to replace both ...

. It threatened to organise strikes in all the London asylums in support of a 48-hour week. In 1916, the union lost its membership in Southern Ireland to the

Irish Mental Hospital Workers' Union The Irish Mental Hospital Workers' Union was a trade union in Ireland. It was formed in 1912 as a split from the National Asylum Workers' Union, and it merged with the Transport and General Workers' Union in 1926. History The Irish Mental Hospita ...

. In 1931, it changed its name to the "Mental Hospital and Institutional Workers Union". In 1946, the union merged with the

Hospital and Welfare Services Union The Hospital and Welfare Services Union (HWSU) was established in 1918 as the Poor Law Workers Trade Union. It recruited from all ranks in the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, poor law service. Within a year it claimed 10,000 members. In 1922 changed ...

to form the

Confederation of Health Service Employees The Confederation of Health Service Employees (COHSE) was a United Kingdom trade union representing workers primarily in the National Health Service. History The union was founded in 1946 with the merger of the Mental Hospital and Institutional ...

(COHSE). By this stage, it had secured a very high membership amongst mental hospital staff, including the vast majority of mental hospital nurses

References

External links

Catalogue of the MHIWU 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 ...

Trade unions established in 1910 Trade unions disestablished in 1946 1946 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Defunct trade unions of the United Kingdom Healthcare trade unions in the United Kingdom 1910 establishments in the United Kingdom Former mental health organisations in the United Kingdom Trade unions based in Greater Manchester {{UK-trade-union-stub