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(Redirected from Amalgamated Union of Engineering and Foundry Workers) Trade union in the UK This article is about the British trade union. For the Australian union, see Amalgamated Engineering Union (Australia). For the South African union, see Amalgamated Engineering Union of South Africa.

Amalgamated Engineering Union
Merged intoAmalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union
Founded1920
Dissolved1 May 1992
Headquarters110 Peckham Road, London
Location
  • United Kingdom
Members1,483,400 (1979)
PublicationAUEW Journal
AffiliationsTUC, CSEU, IMF, Labour

The Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU) was a major British trade union. It merged with the Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union to form the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union in 1992.

History

The history of the union can be traced back to the formation of the Journeymen Steam Engine, Machine Makers' and Millwrights' Friendly Society, in 1826, popularly known as the "Old Mechanics". They invited a large number of other unions to become part of what became the Amalgamated Society of Engineers (ASE).

In 1920, the ASE put out a fresh call for other unions to merge with it in a renamed Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU). Seventeen unions balloted their members on a possible merger, and nine voted in favour of amalgamation:

The resulting union had a membership of 450,000, about 300,000 coming from the ASE.

Jack Leckie, a Scottish trade union activist and communist, addressing a rally at Radford Road, Coventry, during the 1922 Engineers' Lockout.

In 1922 employers, represented by the Engineering Employers' Federation, launched an industry-wide lockout in an attempt to reverse the gains made by the AEU during WWI and its aftermath. Exploiting the downturn in economic conditions in the engineering industry, they demanded the union forfeit control over overtime. The lockout lasted from 11 March to 13 June and involved 260,000 workers, 90,000 of them represented by the AEU. The lockout ended with the union conceding some of the employers' demands.

The AEU continued to grow and absorb smaller unions. From 1926, it accepted members who had not completed an apprenticeship. In 1933, it had 168,000 members, and 390,900 by the end of the decade. Its largest membership growth came during the Second World War when its all-male membership voted to admit women for the first time and 100,000 joined almost immediately, membership reaching 825,000 by 1943. It admitted women due to the increasing role of female industrial workers in the British home front, as well as to prevent either female workers joining rival unions or non-union female workers from undercutting union wages. However, during World War II the AEU also lost its overseas branches in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, which became independent unions.

From the 1940s, the AEU also absorbed various smaller unions: the Amalgamated Society of Glass Works Engineers, Amalgamated Society of Vehicle Builders, Carpenters and Mechanics, Amalgamated Machine, Engine and Iron Grinders' and Glaziers' Society, Leeds Spindle and Flyer Makers' Trade and Friendly Society, United Operative Spindle and Flyer Makers' Trade and Friendly Society, and the Turners', Fitters' and Instrument Makers' Union.

The AEU merged with the Amalgamated Union of Foundry Workers (AUFW) on 1 January 1968 to form the Amalgamated Union of Engineering and Foundry Workers (AEF), and with the Draughtsmen and Allied Technicians' Association (DATA) and Constructional Engineering Union in 1971 to form the Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers (AUEW). The union was now organised on a federal basis, with four sections: Engineering, Foundry, Construction, and Technical, Administrative and Supervisory (TASS). This approach was not a success, as the various sections fell into dispute with each other. In 1984, the Engineering, Foundry and Construction Sections were merged and in 1986 adopted the name Amalgamated Engineering Union once more, while the TASS remained separate and, in 1988, it became entirely independent of the union once more.

Despite this series of amalgamations, declines in the number of workers in heavy industry saw membership drop from a peak of 1,483,400 in 1979, to 858,000 in 1986. The AEU became a mainstay of the moderate right in the trade union movement through the 1980s and 1990s, leading the manufacturing unions in 1989–1991 in a successful push for a shorter working week, but failing to merge with a number of unions, notally the Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians.

In 1992 the AEU finally achieved a merger with the Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union, EETPU, after a hundred years of off and on discussions. The new union took the name Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union.

Election results

Like the ASE before it, the AEU affiliated to the Labour Party, sponsoring candidates at each election, many of whom won seats in Parliament.

Election Constituency Candidate Votes Percentage Position
1922 general election Aberdeen North Frank Herbert Rose 10,958 55.7 1
Ashton-under-Lyne Tom Gillinder 8,834 42.4 2
Basingstoke Samuel Ledbury 3,035 13.6 3
Camborne Tom Proctor 4,502 21.9 3
Dumbarton Burghs David Kirkwood 16,397 64.5 1
Edmonton Frank Broad 8,407 45.1 1
Gateshead John Brotherton 18,795 43.8 1
Newcastle upon Tyne West David Adams 11,654 43.9 1
Newton Robert Young 12,312 55.6 1
Plymouth Drake James Gorman 8,359 31.4 2
Rochdale Stanley Burgess 15,774 38.8 1
Stalybridge and Hyde Percy Horace Wood 7,578 21.6 3
The Wrekin Richard Edward Jones 10,603 47.6 2
Woolwich West John Thomas Sheppard 9,550 39.8 2
Yeovil William Kelly 9,581 38.3 2
1923 general election Aberdeen North Frank Herbert Rose 9,138 50.6 1
Edmonton Frank Broad 10,735 64.4 1
Gateshead John Brotherton 16,689 41.1 2
Newcastle upon Tyne West David Adams 11,527 43.2 2
Newton Robert Young 12,492 59.9 1
Rochdale Stanley Burgess 13,525 32.6 2
1924 general election Dumbarton Burghs David Kirkwood 14,562 59.2 1
Edmonton Frank Broad 11,614 53.1 1
Newton Robert Young 12,875 56.1 1
1929 general election Dartford John Edmund Mills 26,871 50.6 1
Dumbarton Burghs David Kirkwood 19,193 63.1 1
Edmonton Frank Broad 17,555 59.3 1
Newton Robert Young 18,176 60.5 1
1931 by-election Sunderland James Thomas Brownlie 30,074 39.8 2
1931 general election Barrow David Adams 15,835 43.2 2
1935 general election Consett David Adams 25,419 58.7 1
Dumbarton Burghs David Kirkwood 20,409 65.2 1
Newton Robert Young 19,992 58.5 1
1945 general election Aberdeen South William McLaine 17,398 42.3 2
Dumbarton Burghs David Kirkwood 16,262 65.2 1
Manchester Hulme Frederick Lee 12,034 55.6 1
Newton Robert Young 25,197 62.0 1
1948 by-election Edmonton Austen Albu 26,164 53.4 1
1949 by-election Leeds West Charles Pannell 21,935 55.2 1
1950 general election Bury and Radcliffe John Owen 25,705 44.4 2
East Dunbartonshire David Kirkwood 25,943 52.7 1
Edmonton Austen Albu 34,897 55.1 1
Hayes and Harlington Walter Ayles 22,490 60.1 1
Keighley Charles Hobson 21,833 48.5 1
Leeds West Charles Pannell 21,339 51.6 1
Newcastle upon Tyne North W. H. Shackleton 16,860 35.9 2
Newton Frederick Lee 31,832 59.1 1
Rochdale Joseph Hale 25,484 44.9 1
Southall George Pargiter 27,107 53.9 1
1951 general election Cirencester and Tewkesbury Albert Sumbler 18,353 40.5 2
East Dunbartonshire Cyril Bence 26,678 51.2 1
Edmonton Austen Albu 36,023 58.4 1
Esher Percy McNally 15,334 28.6 2
Glasgow Scotstoun John Robertson 20,872 49.3 2
Hayes and Harlington Walter Ayles 23,823 64.8 1
Keighley Charles Hobson 23,743 52.8 1
Leeds West Charles Pannell 22,357 54.1 1
Newton Frederick Lee 31,374 58.3 1
Rochdale Joseph Hale 27,343 49.6 2
Southall George Pargiter 29,123 57.9 1
Southend West Henry Lyall 17,352 30.9 2
Stockport North John Owen 20,893 44.9 2
1955 general election Barry Dan Jones 19,722 42.1 2
Bridgwater Albert Sumbler 17,170 40.8 2
East Dunbartonshire Cyril Bence 24,216 48.7 1
Edmonton Austen Albu 30,232 56.6 1
Glasgow Woodside John McGinley 15,543 43.9 2
High Peak Neil McBride 13,652 34.6 2
Keighley Charles Hobson 19,414 46.5 1
Leeds West Charles Pannell 24,576 52.8 1
Newton Frederick Lee 29,299 57.9 1
Rochdale Jack McCann 24,928 48.5 2
Southall George Pargiter 25,207 57.2 1
Stockport South Ernie Roberts 16,612 44.5 2
1958 by-election Rochdale Jack McCann 22,133 44.7 1
1959 general election Burnley Dan Jones 27,675 57.0 1
Doncaster Ted Garrett 22,935 46.4 2
East Dunbartonshire Cyril Bence 27,942 51.1 1
Edmonton Austen Albu 25,598 50.5 1
Glasgow Scotstoun William Small 24,690 53.7 1
Glasgow Woodside John McGinley 14,483 43.1 2
High Peak Bernard Conlan 13,827 34.0 2
Keighley Charles Hobson 20,456 49.8 2
Leeds West Charles Pannell 25,878 54.9 1
Newton Frederick Lee 31,041 57.4 1
Oxford Leslie Anderton 18,310 34.8 2
Rochdale Jack McCann 21,689 41.5 1
Southall George Pargiter 22,285 52.7 1
South Northamptonshire Arthur Richardson 18,292 43.0 2
Stockport South Stan Orme 17,982 46.7 2
1963 by-election Swansea East Neil McBride 18,909 61.1 1
1964 general election Bradford North Ben Ford 17,905 43.6 1
Bristol North West David Watkins 21,030 42.9 2
Burnley Dan Jones 25,244 56.8 1
Doncaster Harold Walker 23,845 49.9 1
East Dunbartonshire Cyril Bence 32,948 55.6 1
Edmonton Austen Albu 24,373 49.2 1
Gateshead East Bernard Conlan 26,633 64.5 1
Glasgow Scotstoun William Small 27,036 61.6 1
Keighley John Binns 17,816 43.0 1
Leeds West Charles Pannell 22,968 50.5 1
Newton Frederick Lee 32,932 56.0 1
Paisley John Robertson 26,318 52.9 1
Rochdale Jack McCann 22,927 46.7 1
Salford West Stan Orme 20,490 55.5 1
Southall George Pargiter 18,041 48.0 1
Swansea East Neil McBride 30,904 73.0 1
Tottenham Norman Atkinson 19,458 54.7 1
Truro Douglas Grazier 14,224 31.5 2
Wallsend Ted Garrett 39,841 60.4 1
1966 general election Bradford North Ben Ford 21,727 55.4 1
Burnley Dan Jones 25,583 60.4 1
Consett David Watkins 29,753 73.3 1
Doncaster Harold Walker 25,777 56.7 1
East Dunbartonshire Cyril Bence 32,988 52.2 1
Edmonton Austen Albu 26,422 58.6 1
Gateshead East Bernard Conlan 27,628 69.6 1
Glasgow Scotstoun William Small 27,320 61.8 1
Keighley John Binns 22,039 55.0 1
Leeds West Charles Pannell 24,391 56.3 1
Newton Frederick Lee 36,901 62.8 1
Paisley John Robertson 28,074 60.0 1
Rochdale Jack McCann 24,481 52.4 1
Salford West Stan Orme 19,237 59.2 1
Swansea East Neil McBride 30,290 75.4 1
Tottenham Norman Atkinson 17,367 65.3 1
Wallsend Ted Garrett 39,744 65.2 1
1970 general election Aberdeen North Robert Hughes 27,707 62.1 1
Bradford North Ben Ford 20,141 52.1 1
Burnley Dan Jones 24,200 57.0 1
Consett David Watkins 28,985 70.9 1
Doncaster Harold Walker 22,658 50.7 1
Edmonton Austen Albu 20,626 49.1 1
Gateshead East Bernard Conlan 28,524 64.8 1
Glasgow Scotstoun William Small 26,492 57.4 1
Keighley John Binns 20,341 49.3 2
Leeds West Charles Pannell 21,618 51.8 1
Louth James Murray 16,403 33.9 2
Merthyr Tydfil Taliesin Lloyd 9,234 28.7 2
Newton Frederick Lee 34,873 52.5 1
Paisley John Robertson 25,429 54.1 1
Rochdale Jack McCann 19,247 41.6 1
Salford West Stan Orme 16,986 54.3 1
South Northamptonshire Gordon Roberts 21,131 37.2 2
South West Norfolk Leslie Potter 16,572 42.7 2
Swansea East Neil McBride 28,183 68.5 1
Tottenham Norman Atkinson 17,367 61.3 1
Wallsend Ted Garrett 39,065 61.3 1
1973 by-election Dundee East George Machin 14,411 32.7 1
1974 Feb general election Aberdeen North Robert Hughes 23,193 47.7 1
Bradford North Ben Ford 22,381 43.3 1
Bridgwater Roger Undy 16,786 29.5 2
Burnley Dan Jones 21,108 50.4 1
Carlton James Murray 20,147 33.5 2
Chorley George Rodgers 25,440 40.3 1
Consett David Watkins 27,401 61.1 1
Coventry North East George Park 30,496 63.9 1
Doncaster Harold Walker 23,041 47.9 1
Dundee East George Machin 17,100 33.7 2
Gateshead East Bernard Conlan 27,269 55.2 1
Glasgow Garscadden William Small 21,035 52.3 1
Gloucester Alf Pegler 18,215 35.2 2
Leeds West Joseph Dean 19,436 42.1 1
Newton John Evans 38,369 49.3 1
Paisley John Robertson 23,820 48.4 1
St Pancras North Jock Stallard 14,761 52.8 1
Salford West Stan Orme 16,808 51.3 1
Swansea East Neil McBride 28,537 66.3 1
Tottenham Norman Atkinson 16,999 54.8 1
Wallsend Ted Garrett 41,811 62.0 1
1974 Oct general election Aberdeen North Robert Hughes 23,130 50.9 1
Bradford North Ben Ford 22,841 49.1 1
Burnley Dan Jones 21,642 54.8 1
Chorley George Rodgers 27,290 44.1 1
Consett David Watkins 27,123 67.0 1
Coventry North East George Park 26,489 59.5 1
Doncaster Harold Walker 22,177 51.3 1
Dundee East George Machin 15,137 32.7 2
Gateshead East Bernard Conlan 27,620 61.9 1
Glasgow Garscadden William Small 19,737 50.9 1
Leeds West Joseph Dean 20,669 49.6 1
Newton John Evans 38,956 53.3 1
Paisley John Robertson 21,368 44.8 1
Rochdale John Connell 17,339 36.8 2
St Pancras North Jock Stallard 14,155 58.5 1
Salford West Stan Orme 17,112 57.2 1
Tottenham Norman Atkinson 15,708 58.8 1
Wallsend Ted Garrett 37,180 58.1 1
1979 general election Aberdeen North Robert Hughes 26,771 59.3 1
Bradford North Ben Ford 25,069 50.9 1
Burnley Dan Jones 20,172 50.8 1
Chorley George Rodgers 28,546 43.0 2
Consett David Watkins 26,708 61.3 1
Coventry North East George Park 27,010 57.3 1
Doncaster Harold Walker 22,184 48.9 1
Gateshead East Bernard Conlan 28,776 61.2 1
Hackney North and Stoke Newington Ernie Roberts 14,688 51.6 1
Kilmarnock William McKelvey 25,718 52.6 1
Leeds West Joseph Dean 21,290 49.4 1
Manchester Blackley Ken Eastham 20,346 50.4 1
Newton John Evans 41,466 51.4 1
Rochdale John Connell 16,878 34.3 2
St Pancras North Jock Stallard 14,556 54.2 1
Salford West Stan Orme 18,411 61.5 1
Tottenham Norman Atkinson 16,299 56.9 1
Wallsend Ted Garrett 38,214 55.1 1
1983 general election Aberdeen North Robert Hughes 19,262 47.0 1
Coventry North East George Park 22,190 47.8 1
Doncaster Central Harold Walker 21,154 42.0 1
Edinburgh Leith Ron Brown 16,177 39.7 1
Gateshead East Bernard Conlan 22,981 48.3 1
Hackney North and Stoke Newington Ernie Roberts 18,989 52.0 1
Kilmarnock and Loudoun William McKelvey 20,250 43.6 1
Leeds West Joseph Dean 15,860 34.0 2
Manchester Blackley Ken Eastham 20,132 48.1 1
St Helens North John Evans 25,334 47.9 1
Salford East Stan Orme 21,373 53.7 1
Tottenham Norman Atkinson 22,423 52.0 1
Wallsend Ted Garrett 26,615 50.1 1
1985 by-election Tyne Bridge David Clelland 13,517 57.8 1
1986 by-election Knowsley North George Howarth 17,403 56.3 1
1987 general election Aberdeen North Robert Hughes 24,145 54.7 1
Bury North David Crausby 21,186 37.8 2
Caithness and Sutherland Allan Byron 3,437 14.9 3
Doncaster Central Harold Walker 26,266 51.2 1
Edinburgh Leith Ron Brown 21,104 49.3 1
Feltham and Heston Charles Hinds 22,325 37.4 2
Glasgow Pollok Jimmy Dunnachie 23,239 63.1 1
Kilmarnock and Loudoun William McKelvey 23,713 48.5 1
Knowsley North George Howarth 27,454 69.9 1
Manchester Blackley Ken Eastham 22,476 52.4 1
St Helens North John Evans 28,989 53.7 1
Salford East Stan Orme 22,555 58.8 1
Sheffield Central Richard Caborn 25,872 67.7 1
Sheffield Heeley Bill Michie 28,425 53.4 1
Tyne Bridge David Clelland 23,131 63.0 1
Wallsend Ted Garrett 32,709 56.8 1
1992 general election Aberdeen North Robert Hughes 18,845 47.0 1
Bolton North East David Crausby 21,459 44.5 2
Doncaster Central Harold Walker 27,795 54.3 1
Glasgow Pollok Jimmy Dunnachie 14,170 43.4 1
Kilmarnock and Loudoun William McKelvey 22,210 44.8 1
Knowsley North George Howarth 27,517 77.5 1
Manchester Blackley Ken Eastham 23,031 60.2 1
Rotherham Jimmy Boyce 27,933 63.9 1
Salford East Stan Orme 20,327 60.0 1
Sheffield Central Richard Caborn 22,764 68.7 1
Sheffield Heeley Bill Michie 28,005 55.7 1
St Helens North John Evans 31,930 57.9 1
Tyne Bridge David Clelland 22,328 67.2 1

Leadership

General Secretaries

AEU
1921: Albert Smethurst
1933: Fred A. Smith
1943: Benjamin Gardner
1956: Cecil Hallett
1965: Jim Conway
AEF/AUEW
Year Construction Engineering Foundry TASS
1968 Created 1971 Jim Conway William Simpson Created 1971
1971 Eddie Marsden George Doughty
1974 Bob Garland Ken Gill
1975 John Boyd
1976 John Baldwin
1982 Gavin Laird
1984 Gavin Laird
AEU
1988: Gavin Laird

Presidents

1920: James Thomas Brownlie
1931: William Harold Hutchinson
1933: John C. Little
1939: Jack Tanner
1953: Robert Openshaw
1956: William Carron
1968: Hugh Scanlon
1978: Terry Duffy
1986: Bill Jordan

References

  1. ^ James C. Docherty and Sjaak van der Velden, Historical Dictionary of Organized Labor, pp.24-25
  2. ^ Arthur Marsh and Victoria Ryan, Historical Directory of British Trade Unions, vol.3, pp.12-16
  3. ^ Haydu, Jeffrey (1988). Between Craft and Class: Skilled Workers and Factory Politics in the United States and Britain, 1890-1922. University of California Press. p. 168. ISBN 9780520060609.
  4. Jefferys, James B. (1970). The Story of the Engineers. Edinburgh: Reprints in Social and Economic History. p. 171–191.
  5. Thorpe, Andrew (1997). A History of the British Labour Party. London: Macmillan Education UK. doi:10.1007/978-1-349-25305-0. ISBN 978-0-333-56081-5.
  6. "Amalgamated Engineering Union and successors". Modern Records Centre. University of Warwick. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  7. Chris Cook, The Routledge Guide to British Political Archives: Sources since 1945, pp.223-224
  8. Lloyd, John (1990). Light and Liberty: A History of EEPTU. Weidenfeld and Nicolson. ISBN 9780297796626.
  9. Smethurst, John B.; Carter, Peter (2009). Historical Directory of Trade Unions: Including unions in building and construction, agriculture, fishing, chemicals, wood and woodworking, transport, engineering and metalworking, government, civil and public service, shipbuilding, energy and extraction in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Vol. 6. Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7546-6683-7. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  10. ^ "Appendix III: List of sanctioned candidates, June, 1922". Report of the Twenty-second Annual Conference of the Labour Party: 116–126. 1922.. Note that this list is of the sanctioned candidates as of June 1922, and there were some changes between this date and the general election.
  11. Candidate was listed as sponsored but not attached to any specific constituency in: "By-elections". Candidates and Constituencies: 62–63. 1922.
  12. ^ Jefferys, James B. (1970). The Story of the Engineers. Edinburgh: Reprints in Social and Economic History. p. 230.
  13. ^ Labour Party, Annual Report of the Labour Party Conference (1928), pp.275–281. Note that this is a list of affiliations of Labour MPs as of September 1928, and it is possible that some MPs held different sponsorship as of the 1924 election.
  14. ^ "List of Labour Candidates and Election Results, May 30th, 1929". Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party: 24–44. 1929.
  15. "Parliamentary by-elections". Report of the Annual Labour Party Conference: 16–28. 1931.
  16. "List of Endorsed Labour candidates and election results, October 27, 1931". Report of the Annual Labour Party Conference: 11–27. 1931.
  17. ^ "List of Endorsed Labour Candidates and Election Results, November 14, 1935". Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party: 8–23. 1935.
  18. ^ "List of Endorsed Labour Candidates and Election Results, July 26th, 1945". Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party: 232–248. 1945.
  19. ^ Sponsor assumed to be the same as at the 1950 UK general election
  20. ^ "List of Parliamentary Labour candidates and election results, February 23rd, 1950". Report of the Forty-Ninth Annual Conference of the Labour Party: 179–198. 1950.
  21. ^ "List of Parliamentary Labour candidates and election results, 25th October, 1951". Report of the Fiftieth Annual Conference of the Labour Party: 184–203. 1951.
  22. ^ Labour Party, Report of the Fifty-Fourth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp.255-275
  23. ^ Labour Party, Report of the Fifty-Eighth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp.179-201
  24. ^ Labour Party, Report of the Sixty-Third Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp.158-180
  25. ^ Labour Party, Report of the Sixty-Fifth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp.308-330
  26. ^ Labour Party, Report of the Sixty-Ninth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp.289-312
  27. ^ Labour Party, Report of the Seventy-Third Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp.391-411
  28. ^ Labour Party, Report of the Seventy-Third Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp.371-390
  29. ^ Labour Party, Report of the Seventy-Eighth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp.406-431
  30. ^ General Election Guide. BBC Data Publications. 1983. ISBN 094635815X.
  31. ^ "AEU sponsored MPs show the way in the general election". AEU. 1987.

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