United Patternmakers' Association

United Patternmakers' Association
Founded 1872
Date dissolved 1984
Merged into Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers-Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section
Members 6,842 (1907[1])
9,571 (1980)[2]
Journal Patternmaker
Affiliation TUC, CSEU, LMTU, Labour
Key people George Buchanan
Office location 15 Cleve Road, West Hampstead
Country United Kingdom

The United Patternmakers Association (UPA) was a trade union in the United Kingdom.

The association was founded in 1872 to represent skilled patternmakers in England,[3] following a strike by patternmakers along the River Tyne and River Wear for a nine-hour day.[4] Originally based in London, it transferred its headquarters to Manchester in 1896, to Leeds in 1903, then to Eccles in 1908, returning to London in 1912.[5]

The Associated Patternmakers of Scotland union merged into the UPA in 1912.[5] In 1918, the union balloted its members on joining the new Amalgamated Engineering Union, but this was not approved.[6]

During the 1930s, George Buchanan was the union's president, and the union focussed considerable attention on anti-fascist activity. It was initially sympathetic to the Independent Labour Party's split from the Labour Party, although by 1935 Buchanan's union backing was withdrawn.[7] It retained a strong craft unionist approach, and resisted the prevailing trend of admitting workers in allied trades.[8]

In 1969, the union renamed itself the Association of Patternmakers and Allied Craftsmen.[4] By 1979, its membership stood just under 10,000, mostly in the English Midlands. Only three members were women.[3] In 1984, it merged into the Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section.[5]

General Secretaries

1884: William Mosses
1917: Allan Findlay
1941: Wilfred Beard
1967: Samuel McLaren
c.1970: Gerry Eastwood

References

  1. ↑ Report on Trade Unions in 1905-1907. London: Board of Trade. 1909. p. 82-101.
  2. ↑ Eaton, Jack; Gill, Colin (1981). The Trade Union Directory. London: Pluto Press. pp. 101–102. ISBN 0861043502.
  3. 1 2 Arthur Ivor Marsh, Trade Union Handbook, p.260
  4. 1 2 Arthur Ivor Marsh, Concise Encyclopedia of Industrial Relations, p.224
  5. 1 2 3 John B. Smethurst and Alan Carter, Historical Directory of Trade Unions, Volume 6, pp.204-205
  6. ↑ Jefferys, James B. (1970). The Story of the Engineers. Edinburgh: Reprints in Social and Economic History. p. 193.
  7. ↑ Matthew Worley, Labour's Grass Roots, p.61
  8. ↑ Hugh Armstrong Clegg, Trade Union Officers, p.16
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