The Tobacco Workers' Union (TWU) 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 workers in all areas of the tobacco industry 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 ...

History

The union was founded in 1834 in London as the Friendly Society of Operative Tobacconists. Two years later, it expanded its membership to include tobacco cutters, dryers and stovers and was renamed the United Tobacconists Society. In 1851, it expanded again to include cigarette makers, and in 1881 it took another name, the United Operative Tobacconists throughout the Kingdom. For much of this period, the union was based in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

at the houses of its successive general secretaries, but in 1918 it relocated to London.Tobacco Workers' Union, ''The Tobacco Workers' Union, 1834-1984'' In 1925, the association became an

industrial union Industrial unionism is a trade union organizing method through which all workers in the same industry are organized into the same union, regardless of skill or trade, thus giving workers in one industry, or in all industries, more leverage in ...

, admitting all workers in the tobacco industry, including women, and adopted its final name. However, the following year, it was disaffiliated from 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 ...

after other unions complained that it was poaching their members. It rejoined only in 1941.

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded i ...

,
Tobacco Workers' Union
In 1946, the union merged with the rival

National Cigar and Tobacco Workers' Union {{short description, Former trade union of the United Kingdom The National Cigar and Tobacco Workers' Union was a trade union representing tobacco workers in the United Kingdom. The union was founded in 1918 when the Female Cigar Makers' Protectio ...

. In 1986, the union merged into

Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section The Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section (TASS) was a British trade union. History The union was founded in 1913 by 200 draughtsmen, as the Association of Engineering and Shipbuilding Draughtsmen (AESD). It expanded rapidly, and ...

, forming the union's new Tobacco Sector.

Election results

The union sponsored its Liverpool district organiser as a Labour Party candidate in the 1959 general election:"Fred Barton", ''

Manchester Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 18 December 1963 {, class="wikitable sortable" ! Constituency !! Candidate !! Votes !! Percentage !! Position , - , Middleton and Prestwich , , {{sortname, Fred, Barton, Fred Barton (politician) , , 21,248 , , 40.4 , , 2

General secretaries

:1834: Robert Stevens : :1910s: E. Kayler :1924: C. W. Dorrell :1925: Andrew Boyd :1941: Percy Belcher :1964: David Burke :1967: Charles Butler :1969:

Doug Grieve Charles Douglas Grieve (27 April 1927 – December 1996) was a Scottish trade unionist. Born in Partick, Grieve worked at the Mitchell factory in Glasgow. He joined the Tobacco Workers' Union (TWU), and was appointed to the joint post of nation ...

References

External links

Catalogue of the TWU 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 ...

Defunct trade unions of the United Kingdom 1834 establishments in the United Kingdom Tobacco industry trade unions Retail trade unions Trade unions established in the 1830s Trade unions disestablished in 1986 Trade unions based in London