The United Road Transport Union (URTU) is 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 ...

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 ...

. It was founded in 1890 and has a membership of over 8,000. URTU is a union for workers in road haulage, distribution and logistics.

History

URTU was first registered as the United Carters' Association, and was subsequently named the United Carters' Association of England, the United Carters' and Motormen's Association of England, and the United Road Transport Workers' Association of England before assuming its current name in 1964. Since 1890, there have been only eleven General Secretaries heading the union. At the

1918 UK general election The 1918 United Kingdom general election was called immediately after the Armistice with Germany which ended the First World War, and was held on Saturday, 14 December 1918. The governing coalition, under Prime Minister David Lloyd George, sent ...

, the union sponsored Alfred Hilton, its then general secretary, as an

independent labour The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidate ...

candidate in

Hulme Hulme () is an inner city area and electoral ward of Manchester, in Greater Manchester, England, immediately south of Manchester city centre. It has a significant industrial heritage. Historically in Lancashire, the name Hulme is derived from ...

. He took 12.8% of the vote and third place.

F. W. S. Craig Frederick Walter Scott Craig (10 December 1929 – 23 March 1989) was a Scottish psephologist and compiler of the standard reference books covering United Kingdom Parliamentary election results. He originally worked in public relations, compilin ...

, ''British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-49'', p.189 URTU is also a totally independent union and is not affiliated to any political party. It is affiliated to a number of trade union umbrella organisations and trade bodies throughout the world. URTU's influence is particularly strong in member countries of the European Union where we are represented on all the important labour movement committees and within political and government institutions URTU is organised on democratic principles with the aim of devolving power to the membership. This is exercised through over 500 elected key people working on a local basis as URTU Shop Stewards and Branch Secretaries. The Union's Executive Committee members work on a regional basis with the President being elected on a national basis. All these positions are voluntary. The General Secretary, who is responsible for the running of the organisation, is in a full-time, salaried position but is subject to election every five years. National and Regional Officers (many are former drivers) are employed full-time and, along with Head Office staff, are protected by normal employee rights and are not subject to election. Robert Monks is the present General Secretary and Phil Brown is President.

General secretaries

:1890: William Almond :1890s: Alfred Astles :1910: Alfred Hilton :1934: J. C. Francis :1950: H. Ashcroft :1956: J. Davies :1963: Jackson Moore :1980s: Frank Griffin :1992: David Higginbottom :2006: Robert Monks

References

Transport trade unions in the United Kingdom 1890 establishments in the United Kingdom Trade unions established in 1890 Road transport trade unions Trade unions based in Cheshire Trade unions affiliated with the Trades Union Congress Trade unions affiliated with the Scottish Trades Union Congress {{UK-trade-union-stub

History

General secretaries

See also

References