The Steam Engine Makers' Society (SEM) was an early

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 engineers 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 ...

. The union was founded in

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 ...

in 1824, and was able to meet openly in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

by 1826, despite the

Combination Act 1825 The Combinations of Workmen Act 1825 ( 6 Geo. 4. c. 129) was an act of Parliament of the United Kingdom, which prohibited trade unions from attempting to collectively bargain for better terms and conditions at work, with the exception of incre ...

severely limiting the role of trade unions; it was one of a very few unions able to operate successfully at the time. The union opposed

Chartism Chartism was a working-class movement for political reform in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom that erupted from 1838 to 1857 and was strongest in 1839, 1842 and 1848. It took its name from the People's Charter of ...

, and suspended any branches which attempted to work with the Chartist movement.Arthur Marsh and Victoria Ryan, ''Historical Directory of Trade Unions'', vol.2, pp.60-61 The union had 525 members by 1836, unusually for the time included both skilled and unskilled workers. It was the second largest union invited to amalgamated into the new Amalgamated Society of Engineers in 1851 (after the Journeymen Steam Engine, Machine Makers' and Millwrights' Friendly Society), but voted against, fearing that it would be effectively taken over by the larger union. Instead, it remained independent, growing to 6,000 members by 1891, when it was a founder of the Federation of Engineering and Shipbuilding Trades. The union continued to grow in the 20th-century, reaching 17,800 members in 1914. In 1920, it finally agreed to merge with the ASE and some smaller unions, forming the

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 ...

General Secretaries

:Joseph Scotson :1871: James Swift :1904: William F. Dawtry

References

External links

Catalogue of the SEM 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 ...

Defunct trade unions of the United Kingdom Engineering trade unions 1824 establishments in the United Kingdom Trade unions established in the 1820s Trade unions disestablished in 1920 Trade unions based in Greater Manchester