Amalgamated Association of Beamers, Twisters and Drawers (Hand and Machine)

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AABTD
Amalgamated Association of Beamers, Twisters and Drawers (Hand and Machine)
Members transferred Manufacturing, Science and Finance
Founded1866
Dissolved2002
Headquarters27 Every Street, Nelson, Lancashire
Location
Members
5,237 (1907) [1]
1,065 (1980) [2]
Key people
 William Cornforth Robinson (Secretary)
Affiliations GFTU, NCTTF, TUC

The Amalgamated Association of Beamers, Twisters and Drawers (Hand and Machine) (AABTD) was a British trade union which existed between 1866 and 2002. It represented skilled workers in the cotton industry who were responsible for preparing warp yarns prior to weaving.

Contents

History

The union was founded in 1866 as the Amalgamated Association of Beamers, Twisters and Drawers by the loose amalgamation of several district unions. It was reconstituted in 1889, [3] and officially registered the following year. In 1915, it added "Hand and Machine" to its name. [4] By this time, it had also affiliated to the United Textile Factory Workers' Association. [5]

The union's large number of affiliates included:

Union [6] FoundedMembership (1907) [7] Notes
Accrington1885101Merged into Accrington, Church and Oswaldtwistle 1971
Ashton-under-Lyne1860171Merged into Hyde and District in 1967
Bacup and District190185Merged into Rossendale Valley 1963
Bamber Bridge188266Merged into Preston 1930s
Barnoldswick1925N/ADissolved 1970. Earlier union active 1906–1970
Blackburn1866706Merged into Blackburn and Bolton 1971
Bolton1892266Merged into Blackburn and Bolton 1971
Burnley and District1878498Dissolved 1983
Bury1890105Merged into Rochdale and District 1973
Chorley and District1892174Merged into Blackburn and Bolton 1971
Church and Oswaldtwistle1867102Merged into Accrington, Church and Oswaldtwistle 1971
Clayton-le-Moors190041Dissolved 1920s
Clitheroe and District189270Dissolved 1940s
Colne and District1895214Dissolved 1983
Darwen1892252Merged into Blackburn and Bolton 1971
Earby and District190533Dissolved 1960
Farington1903N/AMerged into Preston 1906
Great Harwood1860109Dissolved 1950s
Hadfield and Glossop189556Merged into Hyde and District 1920s
Haslingden188675Merged into Rossendale Valley 1963
Heywood1890102Merged into Rochdale and District 1973
Hyde and District190272Merged into Colne and District 1976
Leigh and Bedford189067Merged into Bolton 1940s
Littleborough189360Merged into Rochdale and District 1967
Longridge187031Merged into Preston 1950s
Macclesfield189430Dissolved 1920s
Manchester1865136Dissolved 1969
Nelson and District1893340Dissolved 1983
Oldham1868109Dissolved 1963
Padiham1895101Dissolved 1983
Preston1866412Dissolved 1983
Radcliffe189160Merged into Bury 1972
Ramsbottom189443Dissolved 1940s
Rawtenstall and District189160Merged into Rossendale Valley 1963
Rishton189340Dissolved 1940s
Rochdale and District1892157Merged into Colne and District 1974
Skipton and District190544Dissolved 1980
Stockport190661Merged into Hyde and District 1967
Todmorden1892201Dissolved 1983
Wigan and District189160Merged into Bolton and District 1963

From 1890 until 1932, the union was led by William Cornforth Robinson, a member of the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party, who served two terms as a Member of Parliament. [8] In the 1940s and 1950s, it was led by Harry Earnshaw, also a member of the National Executive Committee. [9]

Although union membership was never large, it remained fairly steady into the 1950s, being 3,924 in 1955. However, it dropped rapidly from the 1960s onwards, as employment in the cotton industry in England declined. Many affiliates merged with each other, with the Blackburn and Bolton Districts of the Amalgamation becoming the largest single affiliate. However, that union was suspended from the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in 1972, as it had registered with the government, in defiance of TUC policy. In response, in 1974, the amalgamation expelled the union, which subsequently collapsed. The following year, the Colne, Nelson and Preston unions began working together with a common general secretary, as the North East Lancashire and Cumbrian District, representing three-fifths of the remaining membership. In 1983, they were dissolved, along with the remaining minor affiliates, and the former North East Lancashire and Cumbrian District took over the leadership of the amalgamation. [6]

By 1980, the union had only 1,065 members, [3] and by 1989 this had declined to just 470, although its members were determined not to merge into a larger union. [10] Given the precipitous decline in membership, it disaffiliated from the Trades Union Congress in 1992, [11] and eventually its remaining members transferred to Manufacturing, Science and Finance in 1998, with the union being formally dissolved in 2002. [12]

General Secretaries

J. Ashton
1890: William C. Robinson
1932: James Stott
1940: Harry Earnshaw
1962: Alan Green
1964: James Bleackley
1968: G. Borrah
1974: F. Sumner
1982: A. Little
1985: Albert H. Edmundson
1991: Tony Brindle

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References

  1. ↑ Report on Trade Unions in 1905-1907. London: Board of Trade. 1909. p. 121-124.
  2. ↑ Eaton, Jack; Gill, Colin (1981). The Trade Union Directory. London: Pluto Press. p. 177. ISBN   0861043502.
  3. 1 2 Exton, Jack; Gill, Colin (1981). The Trade Union Directory. London: Pluto Press. p. 177.
  4. ↑ University of Warwick, "A Catalogue of the Papers of the Amalgamated Association of Beamers, Twisters and Drawers"
  5. ↑ P. F. Clarke, Lancashire and the New Liberalism, p.93
  6. 1 2 Marsh, Arthur; Ryan, Victoria; Smethurst, John B. (1994). Historical Directory of Trade Unions. 4. Farnham: Ashgate. pp.  126–143. ISBN   9780859679008.
  7. ↑ Report on Trade Unions in 1905-1907. London: Board of Trade. 1909. p. 28–31.
  8. ↑ The Labour Who's Who (1927), p.185
  9. ↑ Denis Healey, Healey's eye: a photographic memoir, p.22
  10. ↑ Roger Undy, Trade Union Merger Strategies, p.62
  11. ↑ Roger Undy, Managing the Unions, pp.298-300
  12. ↑ Tom Wilson, The Future for Unions
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