Transport and General Workers' Union
Encyclopedia
General union
A General Union is a trade union which represents workers from all industries and companies, rather than just one organization or a particular sector, as in a craft union or industrial union...
trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
s in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
- 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). It was founded in 1922, and its final general secretary
General secretary
-International intergovernmental organizations:-International nongovernmental organizations:-Sports governing bodies:...
was Tony Woodley
Tony Woodley
Anthony Woodley is a British trade unionist who was the Joint-General Secretary of the Unite union which was formed through the merger of Amicus and the Transport and General Workers Union in 2007...
.
In 2007, it merged with Amicus
Amicus
Amicus was the United Kingdom's second-largest trade union, and the largest private sector union, formed by the merger of Manufacturing Science and Finance, the AEEU agreed in 2001, and two smaller unions, UNIFI and the GPMU...
to form Unite.
History
At the time of its creation in 1922, the TGWU was the largest and most ambitious amalgamation brought about within trade unionism. Its 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. The amalgamating unions were:Docks Group
- Dock, Wharf, Riverside and General Labourers' Union of Great Britain and IrelandDock, Wharf, Riverside and General Labourers' UnionThe Dock, Wharf, Riverside and General Labourers Union was a British trade union. It emerged in response to the outbreak of the London Dock Strike in 1889 and rapidly became the principal union for dockworkers in London, Bristol, Cardiff, and other ports in the south and south-west. In South Wales...
- Labour Protection LeagueLabour Protection LeagueThe Labour Protection League was a trade union organising dockers and stevedores in the United Kingdom.Founded in 1871, the League was inspired by the North East Nine Hours League...
(London, est. 1871) - National Amalgamated Coal Workers' Union of Inland and Seaborne Coal Workers (London, est. 1889)
- National Amalgamated Labourers' Union of Great Britain and Ireland (Cardiff, est. 1889)
- North of England Trimmers' and Teemers' Association
Waterways Group
- Amalgamated Society of Watermen, Lightermen and BargemenAmalgamated Society of Watermen, Lightermen and BargemenThe 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 Watchmen's Union of the River Thames to form the Amalgamated...
Administrative, Clerical and Supervisory Group
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 to as the ACTSS (Association of Clerical, Technical and Supervisory Staff). 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
- National Association of Ships' Clerks, Grain Weighers and Coalmeters
- National Union of Docks, Wharves and Shipping Staffs
Passenger Services and Road Transport (Commercial) Groups
- 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)
- National Union of Vehicle Workers
- North of Scotland Horse and Motormen's Association (Dundee, 1911)
- United Vehicle Workers
The Scottish Union of Dock Labourers
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. It replaced the National Union of Dock Labourers, which had been formed in Glasgow in 1889 but later became unpopular in that port,...
and National Union of Dock, Riverside and General Workers in Great Britain and Ireland
National Union of Dock Labourers
The National Union of Dock Labourers was a trade union in the United Kingdom. It was formed in Glasgow in 1889 but moved its headquarters to Liverpool within a few years and was thereafter most closely associated with Merseyside...
initially voted not to amalgamate, but joined before the end of 1922 nonetheless. The Greenock Sugar Porters' Union, Dundee Flax and Jute Stowers' Society, National Union of British Fishermen, and Belfast Breadservers' Association had also joined before the end of the year.
The Amalgamated Carters, Lurrymen and Motormen's Union merged with the Transport and General Workers' Union in 1922. Until its members were fully integrated in 1968, the union formed the North of England Commercial Section within the TGWU, retaining a great deal of autonomy and in many ways effectively functioning as a separate union, even being registered separately with the Registrar of Friendly Societies. It had previously had a similar arrangement with the United Vehicle Workers, another union that joined the merger forming the TGWU. Lurry was an old-fashioned spelling of lorry
Lorry
-Transport:* Lorry or truck, a large motor vehicle* Lorry, or a Mine car in USA: an open gondola with a tipping trough* Lorry , a horse-drawn low-loading trolley-In fiction:...
, and the spelling lorrymen is also seen in the union's documents.
Several specialised unions voted later to merge with the TGWU, including
- Dundee Pilots in 1945.
- Cardiff, Penarth and Barry Coal Trimmers' Union in 1967
The latest union to merge was the Community and Youth Workers' Union
Community and Youth Workers' Union
The Community and Youth Workers Union was a British trade union created in 1938 by ten female voluntary sector workers. It is now a section of the Transport and General Workers' Union...
, whose members approved the merger on 13 September 2006, with the formal merger being approved by the Trades Union Certification Officer
Trades Union Certification Officer
The Trades Union Certification Officer was established in the United Kingdom by Act of Parliament in 1975.-Responsibilities:The Certification Officer is responsible for:* maintaining a list of trade unions and employers' associations...
on 8 January 2007. For a full list, see the list of TGWU amalgamations.
The Transport and General Workers' Union spearheaded the campaign for the registration of Gangmasters in the UK, sponsoring an Act of Parliament
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
which received the Royal Assent
Royal Assent
The granting of royal assent refers to the method by which any constitutional monarch formally approves and promulgates an act of his or her nation's parliament, thus making it a law...
on 8 July 2004. http://www.tgwu.org.uk/Templates/Campaign.asp?Action=Display&NodeID=89606&int1stParentNodeID=42467&int2ndParentNodeID=42467
The future
During 2005 discussions started between the TGWU, AmicusAmicus
Amicus was the United Kingdom's second-largest trade union, and the largest private sector union, formed by the merger of Manufacturing Science and Finance, the AEEU agreed in 2001, and two smaller unions, UNIFI and the GPMU...
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 although the other two unions are proceeding, with delegates approving the proposed 'Instrument of Amalgamation' at a special conference on December 18, 2006. The ballot of both unions' membership during February and early March 2007, also approved the merger. The result of the ballot was announced on 2007-03-08: 86.4% of T&G members and 70.1% of Amicus members voted to support the merger, from a turnout of 27%. 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.http://www.tgwu.org.uk/Templates/System/Other.asp?NodeID=93182 However, on 2007-04-02, The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
reported that the name Unite had been chosen.http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1599614.ece and that full merger of rule books and governing bodies may soon follow the existing merger of personnel and finance departments http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/support_services/article5119928.ece
Affiliations
- Labour PartyLabour Party (UK)The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
(UK) - Labour PartyLabour Party (Ireland)The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in the Republic of Ireland. The Labour Party was founded in 1912 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, by James Connolly, James Larkin and William X. O'Brien as the political wing of the Irish Trade Union Congress. Unlike the other main Irish...
(Republic of Ireland) - Trades Union CongressTrades Union CongressThe Trades Union Congress is a national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions in the United Kingdom, representing the majority of trade unions...
(TUC) - Scottish Trades Union CongressScottish Trades Union CongressThe Scottish Trades Union Congress is the co-ordinating body of trade unions, and local Trades Councils, in Scotland. With 39 affiliated unions as of 2007, the STUC represents around 630,000 trade unionists....
(STUC) - International Transport Workers' FederationInternational Transport Workers' FederationThe International Transport Workers' Federation is a global union federation of transport workers' trade unions, founded in 1896. In 2009 the ITF had 654 member organizations in 148 countries, representing a combined membership of 4.5 million workers....
(ITF) - International Metalworkers' FederationInternational Metalworkers' FederationInternational Metalworkers' Federation is a global union federation of metalworkers' trade unions, founded in Zürich, Switzerland in August 1893...
(IMF) - Union Network InternationalUnion Network InternationalUNI Global Union is a global union federation for skills and services, gathering national and regional trade unions. It was launched on January 1, 2000. Its more than 900 affiliated unions in 140 countries have 20 million members...
(UNI) - International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Association (IUF)
- Public Services InternationalPublic Services InternationalPublic Services International is a global union federation of public sector trade unions. It 620 affiliated unions, in 160 countries, representing 20 million workers...
(PSI) - International Federation of Building and Woodworkers (IFBW)
- International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers' FederationInternational Textile, Garment and Leather Workers' FederationThe International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers' Federation is a global union federation. , it has 217 member organizations in 110 countries, representing a combined membership of over 10 million workers....
(ITLGW) - International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' UnionsInternational Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' UnionsInternational Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions is a global union federation of trade unions. As of November 2007, ICEM represented 467 industrial trade unions in 132 countries, claiming a membership of over 20 million workers.The organization represents workers...
(ICEM)
Regions - particularly 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.
General Secretaries
- Ernest BevinErnest BevinErnest Bevin was a British trade union leader and Labour politician. He served as general secretary of the powerful Transport and General Workers' Union from 1922 to 1945, as Minister of Labour in the war-time coalition government, and as Foreign Secretary in the post-war Labour Government.-Early...
, 1922-1945 - Arthur DeakinArthur DeakinArthur Deakin CH CBE PC 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....
(acting), 1940-1945 - Arthur DeakinArthur DeakinArthur Deakin CH CBE PC 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....
, 1945-1955 - Jock TiffinJock TiffinArthur Ernest Tiffin OBE , commonly known as Jock Tiffin or A. E. Tiffin, was the third general secretary of the British Transport and General Workers' Union . He served for only a few months in 1955 before his death.Tiffin was born in Carlisle...
, 1955 - Frank CousinsFrank CousinsFrank Cousins PC was a British trade union leader and Labour politician.He was born in Bulwell, Nottinghamshire, and became a full-time official in the road transport section of the Transport and General Workers' Union in July 1938...
, 1956-1969 - Harry NicholasHarry NicholasHerbert Richard Nicholas was a trade unionist and political organiser.Born in Bristol, Nicholas worked for the Port of Bristol Authority until 1936, when he took a full-time post in the Transport and General Workers' Union . He moved to London to become National Officer in 1940, and in 1956 rose...
(acting), 1964-1966 - Jack JonesJack Jones (trade union leader)James Larkin Jones, CH, MBE , known as Jack Jones, was a British trade union leader and General Secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union.-Early life:...
, 1969-1978 - Moss EvansMoss EvansArthur Mostyn Evans , better known as Moss Evans, was the general secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union , then the largest general trade union in the United Kingdom, from 1978 until 1985....
, 1978-1984 - Ron ToddRon ToddRonald Todd , generally known as Ron Todd, was the general secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union , then the largest general trade union in the United Kingdom, from 1985 until 1992....
, 1985-1992 - Bill MorrisBill MorrisWilliam Manuel Morris, Baron Morris of Handsworth, OJ , generally known as Bill Morris, was general secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union from 1992 to 2003, and the first black leader of a British trade union....
, 1992-2003 - Tony WoodleyTony WoodleyAnthony Woodley is a British trade unionist who was the Joint-General Secretary of the Unite union which was formed through the merger of Amicus and the Transport and General Workers Union in 2007...
, 2003-2007
Amalgamations
The list of TGWU amalgamations 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.See also
- TGWU amalgamations
- List of trade unions
- Ministry of Civil Aviation Aerodrome Fire ServiceMinistry of Civil Aviation Aerodrome Fire ServiceThe Ministry of Civil Aviation Aerodrome Fire Service was a national airport fire service which operated in British airports run by the Ministry of Civil Aviation....