The General Union of Loom Overlookers (GULO) 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 junior supervisors in textile manufacturing 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 European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. While most members were based in Lancashire, it also had members in Yorkshire, East Anglia and Essex.

History

In 1875, a National Confederate Association of Power Loom Overlookers was established as a loose organisation of sixteen local trade unions, most based in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

. As all its affiliates were very small, its total membership was around 1,000. In 1885, it organised a conference with the larger Blackburn and Pendleton unions, which saw themselves as

friendly societies A friendly society (sometimes called a benefit society, mutual aid society, benevolent society, fraternal organization or ROSCA) is a mutual association for the purposes of insurance, pensions, savings or cooperative banking. It is a mutual org ...

and had refused to join the confederation. The conference was successful, and the General Union of Associations of Power-Loom Overlookers was established. It took part in a large number of local strikes in its early years. Affiliates included: The union was keen to support broader trade union ventures. It was a founder member of the Labour Representation Committee, and affiliated to the United Textile Factory Workers' Association, the General Federation of Trade Unions and the

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions in England and Wales, representing the majority of trade unions. There are 48 affiliated unions, with a total of about 5.5 million members. Frances ...

. It was also a founder member of the

Northern Counties Textile Trades Federation The Northern Counties Textile Trades Federation was a trade union federation in northern England. History The federation was founded in 1906. By 1907, it brought together unions representing 126,700 members. Despite its name, it only included uni ...

. Early in the 1900s, the association changed its name to become the General Union of Associations of Loom Overlookers. Membership continued to grow until 1933, when it peaked at 8,820. It remained steady at around 5,000 until 1960, at which point 25 unions were affiliated. However, membership then began to fall, in line with the decline in the British cotton industry. In response, in 1971, the union founded the "British Federation of Textile Technicians" with two smaller, independent unions: the Yorkshire Association of Power Loom Overlookers and the Scottish Union of Power Loom Overlookers. By 1979, the union consisted of fourteen local unions, although their total membership was only 2,410. It suffered a dramatic loss of membership as mills closed during the 1980s and 1990s, with only 265 members remaining at the end of the century. By 1997, it had only two affiliates, the United Association of Power Loom Overlookers and the Amalgamated Power Loom Overlookers, and that year its federal structure was abandoned, members instead joining the central body, now renamed the "General Union of Loom Overlookers". Despite this change, membership continued to drop, falling to only 138 in 2007, when the union was dissolved. Former members of the union transferred to the GMB. GMB,
Transfers of Engagements

General Secretaries

:1885: John Sidebotham :1905: James E. Tattersall :1913: James E. Tattersall and

Edward Duxbury Edward Duxbury (born 1863) was a British trade unionist. He held important roles in both the Labour Party and the Trades Union Congress. Born in Manchester, Duxbury began working in a spinning factory in the Rossendale Valley when he was eight ...

:1921:

:1935: Jeremiah Proctor :1949: Fred Titherington :1963:

Arthur Howcroft Arthur Howcroft (died 25 January 1976) was a British trade union leader. Howcroft worked as a manager in the Bolton cotton mills, and he joined the Bolton and District Managers' and Overlookers' Association. In 1949, he was elected as general sec ...

:1976: Harold Brown :1982: R. Richardson :1986: Eddie Macro :1990: Don Rishton

References

{{Lancashire cotton Defunct trade unions of the United Kingdom 1885 establishments in the United Kingdom Cotton industry trade unions Trade unions established in 1885 Trade unions disestablished in 2007 GMB (trade union) amalgamations Trade unions based in Lancashire