The Chain Makers' and Strikers' Association (CMSA) was a

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 ...

representing workers employed in the manufacture of

chain A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. A ...

s in the United Kingdom, principally in the West Midlands.

History

The union was founded in 1889 as the United Chain Makers' and Chain Strikers' Association of Saltney, Pontypridd and Staffordshire, by workers at the H. Wood & Co factory in

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

. Although chain-making was a minor industry in Chester, the union spread to the main areas of chain-making:

Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the parish had a population of 55,318 and the built-up area had a population of 74,120. ...

Pontypridd Pontypridd ( , ), Colloquialism, colloquially referred to as ''Ponty'', is a town and a Community (Wales), community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales, approximately 10 miles north west of Cardiff city centre. Geography Pontypridd comprises the ...

, St Helens,

Shifnal Shifnal () is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire, England, about east of Telford, 17 miles (27 km) east of Shrewsbury and 13 miles (20 km) west-northwest of Wolverhampton. It is near the M54 motorway and A5 (road), A5 road ...

and

Tipton Tipton is an industrial town in the metropolitan borough of Sandwell, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It had a population of 38,777 at the 2011 UK Census. It is located northwest of Birmingham and southeas ...

, and most importantly

Cradley Heath Cradley Heath is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is in the Black Country, west of Birmingham. The town was known for the manufacture of chains in the first half of the twentiet ...

, where the union soon relocated its headquarters. In light of its increased remit, in 1899 the union renamed itself as the "Chain Makers' and Strikers' Association". It had 1,000 members by the end of the century, a majority of unionised workers in the industry. The small Factory Chain Makers' Union joined in 1904. The union was involved in a major strike in

in 1910, when employers tried to get workers to agree in writing to accept less than agreed rates for their work. The strike succeeded in ending this practice. The union's main rival was the Union of Block Chain Makers, but by the 1910s, the two shared a general secretary in Thomas Sitch, and the Block Chain Makers was merged into the Chain Makers in 1919, leading membership to peak at 1,941 in 1925. On Thomas' death in 1923, his son

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

became general secretary, and from 1918 to 1931, he served as a Member of Parliament sponsored by the union. However, in 1933, he was discovered to have embezzled funds and misrepresented its level of membership. He was removed from office, and later imprisoned, Bert Head succeeding as the new general secretary.Eric Taylor, "Head, Albert (Bert) Edward", ''Dictionary of Labour Biography'', vol.VII, pp.111–113 Head remained leader for more than fifty years, the longest-serving trade union leader in the UK. However, the industry was in a long decline, and membership also fell, dropping to only 228 in 1972. The union was long affiliated to the

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), but it registered with the government in defiance of TUC policy, and was expelled from the TUC and the General Federation of Trade Unions in 1972. This led the union to collapse, and it was dissolved in 1977.

Election results

The union sponsored its general secretary as Labour Party candidate in each general election from 1918 to 1931. {, class="wikitable sortable" ! Election !! Constituency !! Candidate !! Votes !! Percentage !! Position , - , 1918 general election , ,

Kingswinford Kingswinford is a town of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the English West Midlands (county), West Midlands, situated west-southwest of central Dudley. In 2011 the area had a population of 25,191, down from 25,808 at the 2001 Census. T ...

, , , , 10,397 , , 47.6 , , 1 , - , 1922 general election , ,

, , , , 15,232 , , 51.6 , , 1 , - , 1923 general election , ,

, , , , 15,174 , , 49.5 , , 1 , - , 1924 general election , ,

, , , , 17,235 , , 51.5 , , 1 , - , 1929 general election , ,

, , , , 22,479 , , 53.2 , , 1 , - , 1931 general election , ,

, , {{sortname, Charles, Sitch , , 19,495 , , 47.1 , , 2

General Secretaries

:1889: Thomas Sitch :1923:

Charles Sitch Charles Henry Sitch (4 May 1887 – 13 June 1960) was Labour MP for Kingswinford. Born in Saltney in Flintshire, Sitch grew up in Cradley Heath, where his father, Thomas Sitch, was General Secretary of the Chain Makers' and Strikers' Associat ...

:1934: Bert Head

References

Trade unions established in 1889 Trade unions disestablished in 1977 Metal trade unions Trade unions based in the West Midlands (county)