Amalgamated Engineering Union

Amalgamated Society of Engineers

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".^[2] Its secretary, William Allan, and another leading figure in the union, William Newton, proposed forming a new union to bring together skilled workers from all engineering trades.^[3] They invited a large number of other unions to become part a new Amalgamated Society of Engineers, Machinists, Smiths, Millwrights and Pattern-makers, which was soon shorted to the Amalgamated Society of Engineers (ASE). Other than the Old Mechanics, the only notable union to join was the Smiths Benevolent, Sick and Burial Society. Together with various small, local unions, they brought 5,000 members into the ASE on its creation in 1851, Allan becoming its first general secretary.^[2]

The ASE was one of the 'New Model Unions' of the 1850s–1870s. These unions, which also included the Ironfounders, Builders, and Carpenters' societies, rejected Chartism and the ideas of Robert Owen in favour of a more moderate policy based on 'prudence', 'respectability' and steady growth. Great importance was attached to the question of finance, as substantial funds would not only provide maintenance for members involved in strike action, but also help to deter the employers from attacking the organisation. Since its members were skilled and relatively highly paid, it was possible for the ASE to charge contributions of one shilling a week and to build up a fund of unprecedented proportions. Initially, there were strict restrictions on membership; all must have completed an apprenticeship in their trade, and men who wore glasses were not permitted to join.^[2]

The ASE was an immediate success, and within a year, membership had more than doubled to 11,000.^[2] However, in 1852, it agreed a ban on overtime and piecework. In retaliation, employers began an extended national lockouts, which greatly weakened the organisation,^[3] an event repeated in 1896. But it maintained its pre-eminent position in the industry, and many local and regional unions joined.

The union was invited to join the Federation of Engineering and Shipbuilding Trades (FEST) when it was formed in 1891, but refused to do so. It also had a turbulent relationship with the Trades Union Congress (TUC), not holding membership in 1905 or from 1907 to 1918. However, it was a founder member of the General Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU). It finally joined the FEST in 1905, hoping to persuade its other members to amalgamate with it. Six small unions did so, but the other refused, and the ASE again left the FEST in 1918.^[2]

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

Amalgamated Engineering Union

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:^[2]

• Amalgamated Association of Brass Turners, Fitters, Finishers and Coppersmiths
• Amalgamated Instrument Makers' Society
• Amalgamated Society of General Tool Makers, Engineers and Machinists
• East of Scotland Brass Founders' Society
• London United Metal Turners', Fitters' and Finishers' Society
• North of England Brass Turners', Fitters' and Finishers' Society
• Steam Engine Makers' Society
• United Kingdom Society of Amalgamated Smiths and Strikers
• United Machine Workers' Association

The resulting union had a membership of 450,000,^[4] about 300,000 coming from the ASE.^[5]

The ASE had set up overseas branches in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. In 1891, they had only 5,000 members between them, but by 1920 they had grown to 32,000 members. The union set up an Australasian Council, and in 1906 a South African Council, and the branches in those countries thereafter had a considerable degree of autonomy. They had their own full-time secretaries and organisers, and became the leading unions for engineers in those countries. However, in North America, the union failed to grow. American Organiser Isaac Cowen prioritised strong links with the union in Britain, and the union there came to largely consist of British members who were temporarily working overseas. Many of them left in 1905 to join the International Workers of the World, and the ASE decided in 1920 to transfer the remaining branches to the International Association of Machinists.^[5]

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.^[4] 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.^[4]

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.^[1] However, the AEU also lost its overseas branches in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, which became independent unions.

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.^[6]

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.^[1] 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 building workers union UCATT.

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. ^[7] The new union took the name Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union.^[8]