The Engineering and Fastener Trade 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 ( ...

based in the

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

History

The union was founded in 1914 as the Screw Nut Bolt and Rivet Trade Union. It represented workers who used machinery to make

screw A screw and a bolt (see '' Differentiation between bolt and screw'' below) are similar types of fastener typically made of metal and characterized by a helical ridge, called a ''male thread'' (external thread). Screws and bolts are used to fa ...

s, nuts, bolts and

rivet A rivet is a permanent mechanical fastener. Before being installed, a rivet consists of a smooth cylindrical shaft with a head on one end. The end opposite to the head is called the ''tail''. On installation, the rivet is placed in a punched ...

s. As the handmade section of the industry declined, it gained members from the

National Amalgamated Society of Nut and Bolt Makers National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

. Its membership remained just below 2,000 from the mid-1920s to 1956, when it affiliated to the

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre A national trade union center (or national center or central) is a federation or confederation of trade unions in a country. Nearly every country in the world has a national tra ...

. By 1977, membership was estimated at 4,000. In 1989, the union changed its name to the "Engineering and Fastener Trade Union". By the mid-1990s, membership was down to 240, all of whom worked at

GKN GKN Ltd is a British multinational automotive and aerospace components business headquartered in Redditch, England. It is a long-running business known for many decades as Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds. It can trace its origins back to 1759 an ...

. The union was dissolved in 2004.A Snapshot of Trade Union Events
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080713112827/http://www.chelmsford-tuc.org.uk/article76.html , date=2008-07-13 , Chelmsford TUC

General Secretaries

:J. R. Smith :1940s: F. A. Smith :1950s: H. Cater :1981: E. C. Bowcott :1988: W. Redmond :1990: J. Burdis :2000: A. Evans

References

Trade unions established in 1914 Trade unions disestablished in 2004 Defunct trade unions of the United Kingdom Engineering trade unions 1914 establishments in the United Kingdom Trade unions based in the West Midlands (county)