The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU or T&G) was one of the largest

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

s 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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

—where it was known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union (ATGWU)—with 900,000 members (and was once the largest trade union in the world). The TGWU was officially founded on 1 January 1922 with the amalgamation of 14 individual trades unions.

Ernest Bevin Ernest Bevin (9 March 1881 – 14 April 1951) was a British statesman, trade union leader and Labour Party politician. He co-founded and served as General Secretary of the powerful Transport and General Workers' Union from 1922 to 1940 and ...

served as the union's first and longest serving

General Secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

. In 2007, the union voted to merge with Amicus to form

Unite the Union Unite the Union, commonly known as Unite, is a trade union in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland, formed on 1 May 2007 by the merger of Amicus (trade union), Amicus and the Transport and General Workers' Union. A general union ...

History

Establishment

TGWU 1921 Leamington Conference Delegation

In March 1920, the

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

-based Dock, Wharf, Riverside & General Labourers' Union (DWRGLU) began talks on forming a unified

dockworker A dockworker (also called a longshoreman, stevedore, docker, wharfman, lumper or wharfie) is a waterfront manual laborer who loads and unloads ships. As a result of the intermodal shipping container revolution, the required number of dockworke ...

s' union with the

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

-based

National Union of Dock, Riverside and General Workers The National Union of Dock Labourers (NUDL) was a trade union in the United Kingdom which existed between 1889 and 1922. History It was formed in Glasgow in 1889 but moved its headquarters to Liverpool within a few years and was thereafter ...

(NUDRW). The two unions' delegations agreed on a provisional amalgamation committee with

as its Secretary, and

Harry Gosling Harry Gosling CH (9 June 1861 – 24 October 1930) was a British Labour Party politician and trade union leader. Early life Gosling was born in 1861 at 57 York Street, Lambeth, London, on the southern bank of the River Thames. He was the sec ...

as its chair, with the committee agreeing to invite other unions related to the docks industry. In ballots of the various unions on amalgamation, only the ballots put to the

Amalgamated Stevedores Labour Protection League The National Amalgamated Stevedores and Dockers (NASD), sometimes referred to as the National Amalgamated Stevedores' and Dockers' Society, was a trade union in the United Kingdom. History The union was founded in 1871 as the Labour Protection ...

, the

Scottish Union of Dock Labourers The Scottish Union of Dock Labourers was a Glasgow-based trade union for waterfront workers. It was formed during the seamen's and dockers' strikes of June–July 1911. Locally, it replaced the National Union of Dock Labourers, which had been ...

(SUDW) and the Cardiff Coal Trimmers memberships failed. While the new union was being established, the official publication of the union, ''The Record'', published its first issue in August 1921. The first issue cited its predecessor publications as the ''Dockers' Record'' of the DWRGLU; ''Quayside and Office'' of the

National Union of Docks, Wharves and Shipping Staffs The National Union of Docks, Wharves and Shipping Staffs (NUDWSS) was a trade union representing administrative staff working in shipping and related industries in the United Kingdom. The union was founded in 1909 as the Port of London Staff Asso ...

; ''The Record'' of the

United Vehicle Workers The United Vehicle Workers was a trade union representing drivers in the United Kingdom. The union was founded in 1919 when the London and Provincial Union of Licensed Vehicle Workers merged with the Amalgamated Association of Tramway and Vehic ...

; and ''The Vehicle Worker'' of the

National Union of Vehicle Workers The National Union of Vehicle Workers was a trade union representing drivers in the United Kingdom. The union was founded in 1888 as the London Carmen's Trade Union. By the following year, it had a membership of more than 6,000, but this then bega ...

. On 1 January 1922, fourteen trades unions officially amalgamated to form the Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU), with Ernest Bevin as its first General Secretary. At amalgamation the union had 300,000 members. The

Irish Transport and General Workers' Union The Irish Transport and General Workers Union (ITGWU) was a trade union representing workers, initially mainly labourers, in Ireland. History The union was founded by James Larkin and James Fearon in January 1909 as a general union. Initially ...

(ITGWU) had tentatively taken part in the negotiations, however the talks with the ITGWU broke down. The ITGWU initially challenged the name of the TGWU, claiming that the similar titles would cause confusion. Compromise was reached when the TGWU agreed to operate under the name Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union (ATGWU) within Ireland. The NUDRW amalgamated into the TGWU later in 1922, and despite initially voting against the ballot, so did the SUDW. Through the NUDRW and the DWR&GLU, the TGWU inherited a number of active branches in Ireland in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

Carrick-on-Suir Carrick-on-Suir () is a town in County Tipperary, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It lies on both banks of the River Suir. The part on the north bank of the Suir lies in the Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish of "Carrick", in the historical B ...

Clonmel Clonmel () is the county town and largest settlement of County Tipperary, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town is noted in Irish history for its resistance to the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, Cromwellian army which sacked the towns of Dro ...

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

Drogheda Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...

Newry Newry (; ) is a City status in Ireland, city in Northern Ireland, standing on the Newry River, Clanrye river in counties County Down, Down and County Armagh, Armagh. It is near Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border, the border with the ...

and

Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...

. The Irish membership of the TGWU in 1922 amounted to 8,000, or just over 2.65% of the union's total membership.

Early years

For the first two years of its existence, the TGWU lost members, and continued to lose members for another four out of eight years. In 1923, an unofficial

London dock strike London is the capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Western Europe, with a population of 14.9 million. London stands on the River Thame ...

caused a fissure in the TGWU, and resulted in some docks members joining the now-rival

union. While the issue failed to create a larger defection, the two unions would come into conflict multiple times. In 1929, the

Workers' Union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

amalgamated into the TGWU. Despite being named as a general workers union, the TGWU was primarily made up of workers in the union's four transport Trade Groups—Docks, Waterways, Commercial Road Transport, and Passenger Road Transport. As of 1928, the four transport groups made up 220,000 members of the TGWU in comparison the General Workers Trade Group which constituted only 68,000. With amalgamation, the TGWU's membership increased by 100,000 members, the majority of whom joined its General Workers Group, making the group the largest. This increase in General Trade Group members garnered the Union the recognition and infrastructure to recruit new members outside of the transport sector.

Structure

Transport and General Workers Union Central Office 1

The Transport and General Workers' Union structure combined regional organisation, based on Districts and Areas, with committee organisation by occupation, based on six broad Trade Groups. Trade groups were not closely linked to trades, but were elected by activists. Officials of the union were grouped by region, and could be asked to serve each or any trade group.

Docks Group

The Docks Group was created in 1922 to represent members of the following unions: * Dock, Wharf, Riverside and General Labourers' Union of Great Britain and Ireland *

South Side Labour Protection League The South Side Labour Protection League was a trade union organising dock porters and stevedores in the United Kingdom. Until the mid-1880s, dock porters in the docks on the south side of the River Thames in London were represented by the Labo ...

(London, est. 1889) * National Amalgamated Coal Workers' Union (London, est. 1889) *

National Amalgamated Labourers' Union The National Amalgamated Labourers' Union (NALU) was a trade union representing unskilled labourers in the United Kingdom. The union was founded in 1889, initially based in Cardiff, and later in Swansea. Its membership long varied between 3,00 ...

(Cardiff, est. 1889) * North of England Trimmers' and Teemers' Association (est. 1871) The group originally had a subsection for coal shipping. In 1928, it had 96,000 members, but over time, membership of the group declined along with employment on the docks, dropping to 56,000 in 1966, and had 51,153 in 1980.

Waterways Group

The Waterways Group was created in 1922 to represent members of the

Amalgamated Society of Watermen, Lightermen and Bargemen The Amalgamated Society of Watermen, Lightermen and Bargemen was a trade union in the United Kingdom. The union was founded in 1889 as the Amalgamated Society of Watermen and Lightermen of the River Thames. In 1901, it merged with the Watchm ...

. Always one of the smallest sections, it had only 8,000 members in 1928, and 16,000 in 1966. In 1970, it was merged into the Docks Group.

Administrative, Clerical and Supervisory Group

The Administrative, Clerical and Supervisory Group was created in 1922 to represent members of the following unions: * National Association of Ships' Clerks, Grain Weighers and Coalmeters *

There was often ambiguity in the TGWU over the actual name of its white-collar section. From the 1960s it was generally known as ACTS (Administrative, Clerical, Technical and Supervisory) but also sometimes as the ACTSS (Association of Clerical, Technical and Supervisory Staff) and enamel union badges bearing both sets of initials were produced for members. It was noted for an enquiry by the Certification Office in 2006 into board members who had joined the union within six months of being elected to senior posts. The group grew significantly over time, having only 5,000 members in 1928, but 62,000 by 1966, and 149,801 members in 1980.

Road Transport (Passenger and Commercial) Groups

The Road Transport group was created in 1922 to represent members of the following unions: *Amalgamated Association of Carters and Motormen (Leeds, est. 1916) * Amalgamated Carters, Lurrymen and Motormen's Union (Bolton, est. 1890) *Associated Horsemen's Union (Greenock, est. 1894) *

*North of Scotland Horse and Motormen's Association (Dundee, 1911) *

Later in 1922, the group was split into Road Transport (Passenger) and Road Transport (Commercial) groups. The Passenger group had 79,000 members in 1928 and 181,000 in 1966, but by 1980, the renamed Passenger Services group had dropped to only 44,501 members. The Commercial Services group rose from 37,000 members in 1928 to 219,000 in 1966, and 226,290 in 1980.

General Workers Group

The General Workers Group was created in 1922 to cater for all workers in jobs which did not fall into another group. Initially, it had subsections for workers in metal and chemical trades. Once it was considered that a particular field had enough members to justify its own trade group, it was split out. These decisions were made at the Biennial Delegate Conference, and although there were many applications to form new trade groups, most were unsuccessful. The group had 68,000 members in 1928, and it then doubled in size when the

merged into the TGWU. By 1966, it had 338,000 members and, despite the splitting out of further groups in 1970, by 1980 it still had 269,845 members. The first groups to be split out were: * Power Workers, formed in 1926 from the National Amalgamated Union of Enginemen, Firemen, Mechanics, Motormen and Electrical Workers. It had 20,000 members in 1928, rising to 41,000 by 1966. * Engineering, formed in 1931, principally from members of the

. By 1966, it had 269,000 members. * Government, formed in 1943, with 58,000 members by 1966. * Municipal, formed in 1945, with 44,000 members by 1966. * Agricultural, formed in 1945, with 13,000 members by 1966. * joined by the National Union of Agricultural and Allied Workers * Building, formed in 1953, with 53,000 members by 1966. * Chemical, formed in 1953, with 61,000 members by 1966.

Later mergers

The

and the National Union of Dock, Riverside and General Workers in Great Britain and Ireland initially voted not to amalgamate as founding members, but a new voted changed their position, and they joined before the end of 1922, along with the Amalgamated Carters, Lurrymen and Motormen's Union, the Greenock Sugar Porters' Union, the Dundee Flax and Jute Stowers' Society, the National Union of British Fishermen, and the Belfast Breadservers' Association. Some of these unions retained a great deal of autonomy and in many ways effectively functioned as separate unions, even being registered separately with the Registrar of Friendly Societies The biggest merger was with the

in 1929, the union being fully integrated into the TGWU in 1931.

Campaigns

The Transport and General Workers' Union spearheaded the campaign for the registration of

Gangmaster The Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) is the foremost intelligence and investigative agency for labour exploitation in the UK. Its role is to work in partnership with police and other law enforcement agencies such as the National Crim ...

s in the UK, sponsoring an Act of Parliament which received the

Royal Assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in othe ...

on 8 July 2004.

Merger with Amicus

During 2005 discussions started between the TGWU, Amicus and the GMB about the possibility of merging the three unions into one organisation with potentially 2.5 million members covering almost every sector of the economy. On 14 June 2006 the GMB Conference voted not to continue with discussions. The TGWU and Amicus proceeded without GMB involvement, with delegates from the two unions approving the proposed 'Instrument of Amalgamation' at a special conference on 18 December 2006. The ballot of both unions' membership during February and early March 2007, approved the merger. The result of the ballot was announced on 8 March 2007: 86.4 per cent of T&G members and 70.1 per cent of Amicus members voted to support the merger, from a turnout of 27% in both cases. The press release announced that the resulting union had the working title "New Union" and the name would be decided by a ballot of the membership. On 2 April 2007, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' reported that the name

Unite Unite may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Albums * ''Unite'' (1GN album), 2016 * ''Unite'' (A Friend in London album), 2013 * ''Unite'' (Kool & the Gang album), 1992 * ''Unite'' (The O.C. Supertones album), 2005 Songs *"Unite!" ...

had been chosen. and that full merger of rule books and governing bodies may soon follow the existing merger of personnel and finance departments. It was negotiated that both Derek Simpson, General Secretary of Amicus, and

Tony Woodley Anthony Woodley, Baron Woodley (born 2 January 1948) is a British people, British trade unionist who was the Joint-Unite the Union, General Secretary of Unite, a union formed through the merger of Amicus (trade union), Amicus and the Transport an ...

General Secretary of TGWU, would serve as Joint-General Secretaries of Unite until December 2010 and that Tony Woodley would serve alone until January 2012. Despite this Woodley resigned January 2011, a year earlier than planned.

Affiliations

* Labour Party (UK) * Labour Party (Republic of Ireland) *

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union center, national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions that collectively represent most unionised workers in England and Wales. There are 48 affiliated unions with a total of ...

(TUC) *

Irish Congress of Trade Unions The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (often abbreviated to just Congress or ICTU), formed in 1959 by the merger of the Irish Trades Union Congress (founded in 1894) and the Congress of Irish Unions (founded in 1945), is a national trade union cent ...

(ICTU) *

Scottish Trades Union Congress The Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) is the national trade union centre in Scotland. With 40 affiliated unions as of 2020, the STUC represents over 540,000 trade unionists. The STUC is a separate organisation from the English and Welsh ...

(STUC) *

International Transport Workers' Federation The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) is a democratic global union federation of transport workers' trade unions, founded in 1896. In 2017 the ITF had 677 member organizations in 149 countries, representing a combined membership o ...

(ITF) *

International Metalworkers' Federation The International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF) was a global union federation of metalworkers' trade unions, founded in Zürich, Switzerland in August 1893. the IMF had more than 200 member organisations in 100 countries, representing a combine ...

(IMF) *

Union Network International UNI Global Union, formally Union Network International (UNI), is a global union federation for the skills and services sectors, uniting national and regional trade unions. It has affiliated unions in 150 countries representing 20 million workers ...

(UNI) *

International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Association The International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations (IUF) is a global union federation of trade unions with members in a variety of industries, many of which relate to food processi ...

(IUF) *

Public Services International Public Services International (PSI) is the global union federation for workers in public services, including those who work in social services, health care, municipal services, central government and public utilities. , PSI has 700 affiliated ...

(PSI) * International Federation of Building and Woodworkers (IFBW) *

International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers' Federation The International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers' Federation (ITGLWF) was a global union federation. In 2005 it had 217 member organizations in 110 countries, representing a combined membership of over 10 million workers. History The ITGLWF ...

(ITLGW) *

International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions The International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) was a global union federation of trade unions. As of November 2007, ICEM represented 467 industrial trade unions in 132 countries, claiming a membership of o ...

(ICEM) Regions – particularl
Region One
which covered London, the South East and Eastern England, also had a tradition of donating to other causes, as did branch committees, which controlled a substantial proportion of membership income.

Officers

General Secretaries

:1922:

:1945:

Arthur Deakin Arthur Deakin (11 November 1890 – 1 May 1955) was a prominent British trade unionist who was acting general secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union from 1940 and then general secretary from 1945 to 1955. Background Arthur ...

(acting from 1940) :1955:

Jock Tiffin Arthur Ernest Tiffin OBE (11 February 1896 – 27 December 1955), commonly known as Jock Tiffin or A. E. Tiffin, was the third general secretary of the British Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU). He served for only a few months in 19 ...

:1956:

Frank Cousins Frank Cousins may refer to: * Frank Cousins (British politician) (1904–1986), British trade union leader and Labour politician * Frank Cousins (American politician) (born 1958), American politician who served as the Essex County, Massachusetts ...

:1964:

Harry Nicholas Sir Herbert Richard Nicholas OBE (13 March 1905 – 15 April 1997) was a trade unionist and political organiser. Early life Born in Bristol, Nicholas worked for the Port of Bristol Authority until 1936, when he took a full-time post in the Tr ...

(acting) :1969: Jack Jones :1978: Moss Evans :1985: Ron Todd :1992: Bill Morris :2003:

Deputy General Secretaries

:1974: Harry Urwin :1980: Alec Kitson :1986: Bill Morris :1992:

Jack Adams John James "Jolly Jack" Adams (June 14, 1894 – May 1, 1968) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player, coach, and general manager in the National Hockey League and Pacific Coast Hockey Association. He played for the Toronto Arenas, Vancouv ...

:1999: Margaret Prosser :2002:

:2003:

Jack Dromey John Eugene Joseph Dromey (29 September 1948 – 7 January 2022) was a British politician and trade unionist who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Erdington from 2010 to 2022. A member of the Labour Party, he served as Deputy ...

Assistant General Secretaries

:1924: John Cliff :1935:

:1945: Harold Clay :1948:

:1955:

:1956:

:1968: Harry Urwin :1974: ''Vacant'' :1985: Eddie Haigh and Larry Smith :1988: Eddie Haigh :1991: ''Vacant''? :1999: Barry Camfield and Jimmy Elsby

Amalgamations

The list of

TGWU amalgamations The Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU) was created in 1922 from a merger of fourteen unions and continued to grow through a series of mergers, amalgamations and transfers of engagements. This process, which is recorded below in chronolog ...

highlights the scale of the TGWU policy of mergers, amalgamations and transfers of engagements, which contributed to its membership growth and the spread of its membership base.

Explanatory footnotes

References

Citations

Works cited

* * * *

External links

The history of the T&G

Catalogue of the TGWU 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 collect ...

Catalogue of the TGWU West Midlands Region archives
held at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick
Catalogue of the TGWU Coventry District archives
held at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick
T&GWU website archived on 30 April 2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:Transport And General Workers' Union Unite the Union Defunct trade unions of the United Kingdom Transport trade unions in the United Kingdom Transport trade unions in Ireland Defunct trade unions of Ireland International Transport Workers' Federation International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations Trade unions established in 1922 1922 establishments in the United Kingdom Trade unions disestablished in 2007 2007 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Defunct transport organisations based in the United Kingdom Trade unions based in London