The Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section (TASS) was a British
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 ( ...
.
History
The union was founded in 1913 by 200
draughtsmen
A drafter (also draughtsman / draughtswoman in British and Commonwealth English, draftsman / draftswoman or drafting technician in American and Canadian English) is an engineering technician who makes detailed technical drawings or plans for m ...
, as the Association of Engineering and Shipbuilding Draughtsmen (AESD). It expanded rapidly, and had more than 14,000 member by the end of the decade. Although it declined during the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
, it retained most of its members by offering
unemployment benefit
Unemployment benefits, also called unemployment insurance, unemployment payment, unemployment compensation, or simply unemployment, are payments made by authorized bodies to unemployed people. In the United States, benefits are funded by a compu ...
, and by 1939 established a new high of 23,000 members, this rising to 44,000 by the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
and over 75,000 by 1968. From 1960, it accepted technicians in ancillary roles, changing its name to the Draughtsmen's and Allied Technicians' Association (DATA).
[Peter Armstrong et al, ''White Collar Workers Trade Unions and Class'', pp. 163–164.]
In 1970, DATA amalgamated with the
Amalgamated Union of Engineering and Foundry Workers (AUEFW) and
Constructional Engineering Union
The Constructional Engineering Union (CEU) was a trade union representing steel erectors and other workers involved in steel construction in the United Kingdom.
History
The union was founded in 1924 as a section of the Iron and Steel Trades Co ...
(CEU) to form the
Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers
The Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU) was a major British trade union. It merged with the Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union to form the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union in 1992.
History
The history of t ...
(AUEW). The former members of DATA formed the Technical and Supervisory Section of the new union. At the 1973 Representative Council Conference it was agreed to rename it the Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section (TASS).
In 1985, after considerable problems within the AUEW, TASS broke away to become an independent union.
TASS absorbed the
National Union of Gold, Silver and Allied Trades
{{Infobox union
, name = NUGSAT
, location_country= United Kingdom, Ireland
, affiliation = TUC, Labour{{cite book, last1=Eaton, first1=Jack, last2=Gill, first2=Colin, title=The Trade Union Directory, date=1981, publisher=Pluto Press, ...
(NUGSAT) in 1981, the
in 1983, the
Association of Patternmakers and Allied Craftsmen
The United Patternmakers Association (UPA) was a trade union in the United Kingdom.
History
The association was founded in 1872 to represent skilled patternmakers in England, following a strike by patternmakers along the River Tyne and River We ...
in 1984, the
Tobacco Workers' Union
The Tobacco Workers' Union (TWU) was a trade union representing workers in all areas of the tobacco industry in the United Kingdom.
History
The union was founded in 1834 in London as the Friendly Society of Operative Tobacconists. Two years ...
in 1986, and the
National Society of Metal Mechanics in 1987.
In 1988, it merged with 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) to become the
Manufacturing Science and Finance
Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a range ...
Union (MSF). MSF in turn merged with the
AEEU
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 in 2002. This resulted in TASS and the former AUEW (by then part of the AEEU) being re-united within one union.
Election results
The union sponsored
Labour Party candidates in each Parliamentary election from 1950 onwards.
Leadership
General Secretaries
:1913: L. Blair
:1918:
Peter Doig
Peter Doig ( ; born 17 April 1959) is a Scottish painter. One of the most renowned living figurative painters, he has settled in Trinidad since 2002. In 2007, his painting ''White Canoe'' sold at Sotheby's for $11.3 million, then an auction rec ...
:1945:
James Young
:1952:
George Doughty
:1974:
Ken Gill
Assistant General Secretaries
:1919: David Manteklow
:1920: David Manteklow and
James Young
:1929: ''Post vacant''
:1946: John Holland
:1956: J. Dickinson
Deputy General Secretaries
:1968:
Ken Gill
:1973:
John Forrester
:1979: Eric Winterbottom
:1983:
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 electric ...
References
External links
Catalogue of the TASS 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 ...
.
Catalogue of the DATA archives held at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick.
{{portal, Organized labour
1913 establishments in the United Kingdom
1988 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
Amalgamated Engineering Union
Defunct trade unions of the United Kingdom
Trade unions established in 1913
Trade unions disestablished in 1988
Trade unions based in London