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

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and

River Wear The River Wear (, ) in North East England rises in the Pennines and flows eastwards, mostly through County Durham to the North Sea in the City of Sunderland. At long, it is one of the region's longest rivers, wends in a steep valley through th ...

for a nine-hour day. Originally based in London, it transferred its headquarters to Manchester in 1896, to Leeds in 1903, then to Eccles in 1908, returning to London in 1912.John B. Smethurst and Alan Carter, ''Historical Directory of Trade Unions, Volume 6'', pp.204-205 The Associated Patternmakers of Scotland union merged into the UPA in 1912. In 1918, the union balloted its members on joining the new

Amalgamated Engineering Union The Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU) was a major United Kingdom, British trade union. It merged with the Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union to form the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union in 1992. History ...

, but this was not approved. During the 1930s, George Buchanan was the union's president, and the union focussed considerable attention on

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...

activity. It was initially sympathetic to the Independent Labour Party's split from the Labour Party, although by 1935 Buchanan's union backing was withdrawn. It retained a strong craft unionist approach, and resisted the prevailing trend of admitting workers in allied trades. In 1969, the union renamed itself the Association of Patternmakers and Allied Craftsmen.Arthur Ivor Marsh, ''Concise Encyclopedia of Industrial Relations'', p.224 By 1979, its membership stood just under 10,000, mostly in the English Midlands. Only three members were women.Arthur Ivor Marsh, ''Trade Union Handbook'', p.260 In 1984, it merged into the Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section.

Election results

The union sponsored candidates in numerous Parliamentary elections between 1909 and 1974, most of whom were elected. Almost all ran as Labour Party candidates, the exception being Buchanan in 1931 who was refused Labour Party endorsement, and instead stood for the Independent Labour Party. He ran for that party again in 1935, on this occasion without official backing from the union, although it did set up a voluntary fund for his support, to which members could choose to donate. By 1945, he had returned to the Labour Party.

Officials

General Secretaries

:1872: R. C. Douglas :1872: R. Reay :1884: William Mosses :1917: Alan Findlay :1941:

Wilfred Beard Wilfred Blackwell Beard (18 January 1891 – 14 December 1967) was a British trade unionist. Born in Manchester, Beard worked as a patternmaker and became active in the United Patternmakers Association, first as a local organiser, then as sec ...

:1967:

Samuel McLaren Professor Samuel Bruce McLaren (16 August 1876 – 13 August 1916) was an Australian mathematician and mathematical physicist. Joint winner of the Adams Prize in 1913 and Professor of Mathematics, University College, Reading from 1913 until ...

:1969: Gerry Eastwood

Presidents

:1872: N. Charlton :1876: C. Mothersdale :1880: S. T. Taylor :1884: R. Brown :1884: T. Souter :1885: John Livingston :1888: George E. Wilson :1891: Thomas Goodall :1892: Joseph W. Field :1893: Joseph Taylor :1894: William Williams :1895: Fred W. Kent :1896: John Mills :1897: Ed Appleby :1899: J. M. Whittaker :1900: Thomas Battison :1901: J. M. Whittaker :1902: A. Mackenzie :1903: Arthur Pearson :1909: John Mills :1913: Albert E. WardaleUnited Patternmakers' Association, "Obituary", ''Annual Report'' (1963) :1932: George Buchanan :1946: Ellis Smith :1966: Victor MacDonald :1977:

References

External links

Catalogue of the UPA 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 ...

{{Authority control 1872 establishments in the United Kingdom Engineering trade unions Defunct trade unions of the United Kingdom Trade unions established in 1872 Trade unions disestablished in 1984 Patternmakers (industrial) Craft unions Trade unions based in London