The Amalgamated Textile Warehousemen's Association 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 (s ...

representing workers in the textile 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 European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, principally in

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

. The union was founded in 1894 as the Amalgamated Society of Clothlookers and Warehousemen, and initially had just 203 members across five autonomous branches. These branches were in

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and nort ...

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River ...

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–1 ...

Colne Colne () is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England. Located northeast of Nelson, north-east of Burnley, east of Preston and west of Leeds. The town should not be confused with the unrelated Colne Va ...

and

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

Great Harwood Great Harwood is a town in the Hyndburn district of Lancashire, England, located north east of Blackburn and adjacent to the Ribble Valley. Great Harwood is the major conurbation of the 'Three Towns'; the three towns being Great Harwood, Clayton- ...

and

Padiham Padiham ( ) is a town and civil parish on the River Calder, about west of Burnley, Lancashire, England. It forms part of the Borough of Burnley. Originally by the River Calder, it is edged by the foothills of Pendle Hill to the north-west ...

. Early in the 1900s, these branches established greater co-ordination and the organisation was renamed the General Amalgamation of Clothlookers and Warehousemen. New district associations were established in other towns in Lancashire and

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's coun ...

on the initiative of the amalgamation, and by 1910 it had 21 branches with 2,790 members.Arthur Marsh and Victoria Ryan, ''Historical Directory of Trade Unions'', vol.4, pp.186-187 In 1913, the association took its best-known name, the "Amalgamated Textile Warehousemen's Association", and membership rose rapidly, to a peak of 11,000 in 1921. By the 1970s, it was losing members rapidly due to redundancies in the industry. It changed its name again to the Amalgamated Textile Warehouse Operatives Association, and developed strong links with the

Amalgamated Textile Workers Union The Amalgamated Textile Workers' Union (ATWU) was a trade union in Great Britain.G. P. and S. P. A. Henderson, ''Directory of British Associations & Associations in Ireland'' (8th Edition), p.7 History The union was founded in 1974, when the Ama ...

, the two sharing a general secretary. Most of the association's branches amalgamated or left the association in the early 1980s. The Amalgamated Textile Workers' Union itself merged into the

General, Municipal, Boilermakers and Allied Trades Union The GMB is a general trade union in the United Kingdom which has more than 460,000 members. Its members work in nearly all industrial sectors, in retail, security, schools, distribution, the utilities, social care, the National Health Service (N ...

(GMBATU) in 1985, and the Warehouse Operatives was dissolved the following year. Two remaining affiliates, in Bolton and Hyde, then merged into GMBATU,Jurgen Hoffman et al, ''A Comparison of the Trade Union Merger Process in Britain and Germany'', p.55 while Colne merged into GMBATU only in 1990, Nelson dissolved in 1991, and Padiham continued in existence.

General Secretaries

:1896: W. Riley :1900s: Edward Strong :1926:

John Lee John Lee may refer to: Academia * John Lee (astronomer) (1783–1866), president of the Royal Astronomical Society * John Lee (university principal) (1779–1859), University of Edinburgh principal * John Lee (pathologist) (born 1961), English ...

:1950: Thomas Ashe :1971: Frank Walker :1972: A. Birtwistle :1970s: Jack Brown

References

{{Lancashire Cotton Cotton industry in England Defunct trade unions of the United Kingdom Cotton industry trade unions 1894 establishments in the United Kingdom 1986 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Trade unions established in 1894 Trade unions disestablished in 1986 GMB (trade union) amalgamations Trade unions based in Lancashire