Amalgamated Society of Textile Workers and Kindred Trades

The Amalgamated Society of Textile Workers and Kindred Trades (ASTWKT) was a trade union representing textile workers, principally silk manufacturing, in the United Kingdom.

ASTWKT
Full nameAmalgamated Society of Textile Workers and Kindred Trades
Founded1919
Date dissolved2000
Merged intoManufacturing, Science and Finance
Members2,059 (1946)[1]
3,561 (1982)[2]
JournalTextile Voice[2]
AffiliationTrade Union Congress, Labour Party
Key peopleWilliam Bromfield (Secretary)
Office locationMarket Place, Leek, Staffordshire
CountryUnited Kingdom

History

The union was founded in 1919 with the merger of six local unions, all based in north Staffordshire or southern Cheshire:[3]

  • Amalgamated Society of Silk Pickers (founded 1884)
  • Amalgamated Society of Braid Workers and Kindred Trades (founded 1889)
  • Amalgamated Society of Silk and Cotton Dyers (founded 1897)
  • Amalgamated Society of Women Workers (founded 1906)
  • Amalgamated Society of Silk Spinners, Throwsters and Reelers (founded 1907)
  • Association of Trimming Weavers' Society of Leek and District (founded 1871)
  • Leek Spun Silk Dressers Union (founded 1907)

Several of the unions were led by William Bromfield, and he became the first secretary of the new union, serving until 1942.[4]

In 1951, the union affiliated to the Amalgamated Weavers' Association, but it left a few years later, in order to cut its expenses. In 1965, it merged with the National Silk Weavers and Textile Traders Association, meaning that for the first time it had members outside Cheshire and Staffordshire, although only in a limited number of locations: Dunfermline, Farnworth, Great Yarmouth and Pontypridd.[3]

In 1992, the union renamed itself as the Union of Textile Workers, and in 2000, it merged into the Manufacturing, Science and Finance union.[5]

Leadership

General Secretaries

1919: William Bromfield
1942: Tom Birch
1946: Herbert Lisle
1983: Alfred Hitchmough

Presidents

1919: Albert Chattaway
1948: Harold Forrester
1963: Frank Stubbs
1965: John Watson
1980s: Harry Braley
1990s: Sean Hulme

Further reading

  • Frank Burchill and Jim Sweeney, A history of trade unionism in the North Staffordshire textile industry

References

  1. Labour Party, Report of the Forty-Fifth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, p.77
  2. Marsh, Arthur (1984). Trade Union Handbook (3 ed.). Aldershot: Gower. pp. 352–353. ISBN 0566024268.
  3. Exton, Jack; Gill, Colin (1981). The Trade Union Directory. London: Pluto Press. pp. 183–184.
  4. Working Class Movement Library, "Silk workers' unions"
  5. Peter Carter and John B. Smethurst, Historical Directory of Trade Unions: Volume 6, p.116
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