The Plumbing Trades Union (PTU) 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 ( ...

representing

plumber A plumber is a tradesperson who specializes in installing and maintaining systems used for potable (drinking) water, and for sewage and drainage in plumbing systems.

s in

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 ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

History

The union was founded in 1865, when the Manchester Plumbers' Society and the Liverpool Plumbers' Society merged with small organisations from Scotland, Ireland, the English Midlands and other areas of northern England to form the United Operative Plumbers' Association of Great Britain and Ireland (UOPA). By the following year, the union had 1,500 members, and it soon expanded to also cover southern England.Arthur Marsh and Victoria Ryan, ''Historical Directory of British Trade Unions'', vol.3, p.75 Many of the union's Scottish members left in 1872 to form the rival United Operative Plumbers' Association of Scotland, with the remainder transferring gradually, leaving the union with no Scottish members after 1891. Despite this, overall membership continued to grow, reaching 10,000 in 1900. In 1911, the union was renamed as the United Operative Plumbers and Domestic Engineers Association of Great Britain and Ireland (UOPA), financial difficulties leading a move away from

craft union Craft unionism refers to a model of trade unionism in which workers are organised based on the particular craft or trade in which they work. It contrasts with industrial unionism, in which all workers in the same industry are organized into the s ...

ism and to accept workers in relate trades. In 1921, the Scottish union rejoined the national body, which in 1931 became the Plumbers', Glaziers' and Domestic Engineers' Union, and adopted its final name in 1946. In 1968, it merged with the Electrical Trades Union to form the

Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union The Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union, known as the EETPU, was a British trade union formed in 1968 as a union for electricians and plumbers, which went through three mergers from 1992 to now be part of Unite the Un ...

General Secretaries

:1866: J. H. DobbTrade Union Ancestors,
Friendly Society of Operative Stonemasons
" :1868: George May :1873: William Barnett :1879: George Cherry :1902: E. E. Burns :1910: J. H. Edmiston :1919: Lachlan MacDonald :1929:

John W. Stephenson Sir John Walker Stephenson (1888 – 15 May 1960) was a British trade unionist. Born in Northumberland, Stephenson completed an apprenticeship as a plumber and joined the United Operative Plumbers and Domestic Engineers Association of Great ...

:1950: Hugh Kelly :1968: Charles Lovell

References

{{reflist

External links

Catalogue Of The PTU 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 ...

1865 establishments in the United Kingdom Plumbing organizations Trade unions established in 1865 Trade unions disestablished in 1968 Defunct trade unions of the United Kingdom Trade unions based in London Building and construction trade unions