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| Founded | 1870 |
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| Dissolved | 1970 |
| Headquarters | 115 Newton Street, Manchester |
| Location | |
Members | 50,349 (1907) [1] |
Key people | James Mawdsley (General Secretary) |
| Affiliations | GFTU, TUC, UTFWA |
The Amalgamated Association of Operative Cotton Spinners and Twiners, also known as the Amalgamation, was a trade union in the United Kingdom which existed between 1870 and 1970. It represented male mule spinners in the cotton industry.
The first attempts to form a trade union for cotton spinners occurred in the late 18th century, and there were numerous attempts to establish local and national unions throughout the 19th century. [2] There had been the Manchester Spinners Union and the Grand General Union of Operative Spinners of the United Kingdom formed in 1828, by John Doherty. It only lasted two years. [3] In 1845 several local associations in the North West and Yorkshire combined to form the Association of Operative Cotton Spinners, Twiners, and Self Acting Minders of the United Kingdom. This grew to 49 local affiliates, was able to appoint a full-time secretary, Thomas Brindle, and was central to the National Association of United Trades for the Protection of Industry. However, a downturn in the industry in 1849 led most of its affiliates to leave or dissolve entirely. It appears to have ceased to function after the Bolton union left in 1850, but maintained some nominal existence and revived from 1853 under Thomas Mawdsley. The association survived with around 4,000 members until, in 1870, it called a conference to found a new organisation, seeking to include local unions such as Oldham and Bolton which did not hold membership. [4]
The Amalgamated Association of Operative Cotton Spinners, Self-Actor Minders, Twiners and Rovers of Lancashire and Adjoining Counties was formed in 1870. [5] In 1878, James Mawdsley became the General Secretary of the Amalgamated Association of Operative Cotton Spinners. Shortly after his appointment he led the operatives in south east Lancashire in a strike against a 20% reduction in wages, securing 5% of this back in early 1880. In 1885 south east Lancashire employers sought a 10% reduction in wages. Again compromise was reached and a 5% reduction imposed. [6]
The new union grew rapidly and by the late 1880s approximately 90 percent of cotton spinners were members. The union had 18,000 members at the turn of the century. [2] By 1910 almost 100% of male mule spinners were members and its membership numbered 22000. [7] The Amalgamation used the high level of union membership amongst mule spinners to restrict the supply of labour to employers, ensuring that their members were able to receive wages and working conditions significantly better than most British industrial employees. This elevated position within the industrial working class led to mule spinners being known as the Barefoot Aristocrats. [2]
Less skilled workers in the cotton industry were generally not allowed to join the Amalgamation, instead forming their own unions. Female ring spinners were represented by the expansionist Amalgamated Association of Card and Blowing and Ring Room Operatives while the powerloom weavers were represented by the Amalgamated Weavers Association which had 114,000 members. [7]
The Amalgamated Association of Operative Cotton Spinners had a federal structure with strong central leadership where control was in the hands of a small group of paid officials. While many of its affiliates were small unions, based in a single town, others were organised in five provinces, each of which covered a wide area and had numerous branches: the Blackburn Province of the Operative Cotton Spinners' Association, Bolton and District Operative Cotton Spinners' Provincial Association, Oldham Operative Cotton Spinners' Provincial Association, Preston Provincial Operative Cotton Spinners' Association, and Yorkshire Province of Operative Cotton Spinners. Union dues were high, so the fighting fund was large and the officials were skilled in defending the complex wage structures.
From the 1950s mule spinning was gradually replaced in the British cotton industry with ring spinning as improvements in technology allowed it to process finer grades of cotton. The size of the British textile industry also declined dramatically during this period due to a decline in demand and competition from foreign industry. This process was accelerated dramatically by the Cotton Industry Act 1959 which encouraged Lancashire cotton producers to rationalise by replacing or retiring older machines, primarily spinning mules.
This decline in available employment undermined the membership base of the Amalgamation and by December 1965 membership had fallen to 3,262. [8] After considering amalgamation into the new Amalgamated Textile Workers' Union the decision was made to dissolve the union in 1970. The Amalgamation continued to function for several years, disbursing funds to former members and winding up the union's affairs, before it was finally deregistered in 1977. [5]
All names from Alan Fowler and Terry Wyke, The Barefoot Aristocrats, p. 239
Bagley & Wright was a spinning, doubling and weaving company based in Oldham, Lancashire, England. The business, which was active from 1867 until 1924, 'caught the wave' of the cotton-boom that existed following the end of the American Civil War in 1865 and experienced rapid growth in the United Kingdom and abroad.
Waterside Mill, Ashton-under-Lyne was a combined cotton spinning weaving mill in Whitelands, Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, England. It was built as two independent factories. The weaving sheds date from 1857; the four-storey spinning mill dates from 1863. The spinning was taken over by the Lancashire Cotton Corporation in the 1930s. Production finished in 1959. Waterside Mill was converted to electricity around 1911.
James Mawdsley was an English trade unionist. Alongside Winston Churchill, he stood as a Conservative Party candidate in the double Oldham by-election of 1899. He was born in Preston, Lancashire, to cotton spinner James Mawdsley and his wife, Jane.
The Cardroom Amalgamation or Cardroom Workers' Amalgamation (CWA) was a British trade union which existed between 1886 and 1974. It represented workers in the cotton textile industry.
The Amalgamated Weavers' Association, often known as the Weavers' Amalgamation, was a trade union in the United Kingdom. Initially, it operated in competition with the North East Lancashire Amalgamated Weavers' Association in part of its area, and it was therefore nicknamed the Second Amalgamation.
Piece-rate lists were the ways of assessing a cotton operatives pay in Lancashire in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. They started as informal agreements made by one cotton master and their operatives then each cotton town developed their own list. Spinners merged all of these into two main lists which were used by all, while weavers used one 'unified' list.
The United Textile Factory Workers' Association (UTFWA) was a trade union federation in Great Britain. It was active from 1889 until 1975.
Fred Garfield Hague was a British trade unionist.
Edward Wagstaff Judson was an English trade unionist.
Thomas Ashton was a British trade union leader.
William Marsland was a British trade unionist.
The Oldham Provincial Card and Blowing Room and Ring Frame Operatives' Association was a trade union representing cotton industry workers in Oldham, Lancashire, in England. Long the largest union in the industry, it played a leading role in establishing a regional federation of cardroom workers.
The South East Lancashire Provincial Card and Blowing Room Operatives' Association was a trade union representing cotton industry workers in Ashton-under-Lyne and surrounding areas of Lancashire in England.
The Cotton Factory Times was a weekly British newspaper, aimed at cotton mill workers in Lancashire and Cheshire.
The Hyde and District Card, Blowing and Ring Frame Operatives' Association was a trade union representing cotton industry workers in Hyde and surrounding areas of Cheshire in England.
The Bolton and District Operative Cotton Spinners' Provincial Association (BOCSPA) was a trade union representing cotton spinners across central Lancashire, in England. It was the most important union of cotton spinners, and dominated the Spinners' Amalgamation.
The Oldham Operative Cotton Spinners' Provincial Association was a trade union representing cotton spinners across eastern Lancashire, in England. It was often the large spinners' union, and provided much of the leadership of the Spinners' Amalgamation.
Charles Schofield was a British trade unionist.
The Preston Provincial Operative Cotton Spinners' Association was a trade union representing cotton spinners in the Preston area of Lancashire, in England.
James William Whitworth was a British trade union leader and politician.
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