The Postal and Telegraph Clerks' Association (PTCA) was a

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

for workers in the

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

and

telecommunication Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...

s industries.

History

The union was founded in 1881 as the Postal Telegraph Clerks' Association, amalgamated with the

United Kingdom Postal Clerks' Association The United Kingdom Postal Clerks' Association was a trade union representing post office workers in the UK. History The union was founded in 1887 by postal sorters working outside London. Those in London had already attempted and failed to form ...

in 1914 to form the Postal and Telegraph Clerks' Association, and in 1919 amalgamated with the

Postmen's Federation The Postmen's Federation was a trade union representing postal workers in the United Kingdom. In 1889, a "Postmen's Union" was founded in Clerkenwell by Tom Dredge and John Lincoln Mahon. This dissolved after many of its members were sacked, but ...

and the Fawcett Association to form the

Union of Post Office Workers The Union of Communication Workers (UCW) was a trade union in the United Kingdom for workers in the post office and telecommunications industries. History The union was founded in 1919 as the Union of Post Office Workers (UPW) by the merger ...

. It achieved official recognition, and as a result, in 1920 the London Postal Porters' Association, Central London Postmen's Association, Tracers' Association, Tube Staff Association, Messengers' Association and Sorters' Association all merged with it.

Leadership

Notable figures in the leadership of the union included the women's officer, Edith Howse.

General Secretaries

:1881: T. Wilkinson :1881: T. Morris :1886: J. E. Scott :1890: T. D. Venables :1898: C. E. Hall :1903: Thomas McKinney :1906: William Johnson :1910: E. R. Tuck :1914: J. G. Newlove :1917: Albert Lynes (acting) :1917: Frederick Fox Riley (acting) Lynes was elected as general secretary in 1919, but before he could take up the post, the union was merged.

Organising Secretaries

:1914: Fred Richardson :1918: Horace Nobbs

References

External links

Catalogue of the PTCA 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 collect ...

Catalogue of the UKPCA archives
held at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick Defunct trade unions of the United Kingdom Communications trade unions 1881 establishments in the United Kingdom Trade unions established in 1881 Trade unions disestablished in 1919 {{UK-trade-union-stub