National Federation of Professional Workers

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The National Federation of Professional Workers (NFPW) was a trade union federation in the United Kingdom.

United Kingdom Country in Europe

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a sovereign country located off the north-western coast of the European mainland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state, the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east, the English Channel to the south and the Celtic Sea to the south-west, giving it the 12th-longest coastline in the world. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland. The United Kingdom's 242,500 square kilometres (93,600 sq mi) were home to an estimated 66.0 million inhabitants in 2017.

Contents

History

The federation was founded on the initiative of G. D. H. Cole and Robin Page Arnot as the Federation of Professional, Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Workers. [1] [2] It aimed to encourage professional, clerical and government workers to join trade unions, and for those unions to co-operate where possible. This was principally through co-ordinated lobbying of Parliament, particularly on issues of pension rights and health and safety; and also through the co-ordinated production of relevant statistics. [3] While an earlier National Clerical and Administrative Workers' Joint Committee had filled a similar role, it had collapsed during World War I. [2]

G. D. H. Cole Historian, economist, writer

George Douglas Howard Cole was an English political theorist, economist, writer and historian. As a libertarian socialist, he was a long-time member of the Fabian Society and an advocate for the co-operative movement.

A trade union is an association of workers forming a legal unit or legal personhood, usually called a "bargaining unit", which acts as bargaining agent and legal representative for a unit of employees in all matters of law or right arising from or in the administration of a collective agreement. Labour unions typically fund the formal organization, head office, and legal team functions of the labour union through regular fees or union dues. The delegate staff of the labour union representation in the workforce are made up of workplace volunteers who are appointed by members in democratic elections.

World War I 1914–1918 global war originating in Europe

World War I, also known as the First World War or the Great War, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. Contemporaneously described as, "the war to end all wars," it led to the mobilisation of more than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, making it one of the largest wars in history. It is also one of the deadliest conflicts in history, with an estimated nine million combatants and seven million civilian deaths as a direct result of the war, while resulting genocides and the resulting 1918 influenza pandemic caused another 50 to 100 million deaths worldwide.

In November 1919, Cole persuaded Alexander Walkden to organise a meeting at the Essex Hall in London, with representatives of all eligible unions invited. This was held on 7 February 1920, and established the federation. [2]

In 1927, the Trades Disputes Act banned civil service unions from membership of any federation containing other organisations. Those unions therefore had to disaffiliate and focus on activity in the Civil Service Alliance and Civil Service Federation. The law was repealed in 1946, and total membership of affiliated unions soon doubled to 500,000. [3]

The Civil Service Alliance was a trade union federation bringing together civil servants in the United Kingdom.

Most remaining unions which were eligible for membership joined in the 1960s, notably including the National Association of Local Government Officers, the Institution of Professional Civil Servants, the National Association of Schoolmasters and the Association of Teachers in Technical Institutions. [4] By the end of the 1970s, 41 unions were affiliated, representing more than 1,500,000 workers, [4] but the federation was in a very poor financial position. Its members were unwilling to increase their affiliation fees, most believing that the NFPW's services were now better provided by the Trades Union Congress, so the organisation dissolved in 1982. [3]

The National Association of Schoolmasters (NAS) was a trade union representing male schoolteachers in the United Kingdom.

Trades Union Congress

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions in England and Wales, representing the majority of trade unions. There are fifty affiliated unions, with a total of about 5.6 million members. The current General Secretary is Frances O'Grady.

General Secretaries

1920: William C. Keay
1929: Stephen W. Smith
1950: P. H. M. Hoey
1962: John Fryd

Presidents

1920: E. H. Walker
1921: George Lathan [2]
1937: George Walker Thomson
1948: Anne Godwin
1956: Jim Bradley
1960: Jim Mortimer
1962: Laurence Welsh
1964: Arthur Palmer
1966: John Dryden
1969: Eric Winterbottom
1971: Terry Casey
1973: Geoffrey Drain
1975:

Treasurers

1947: Percy Heady [2]
1949: James Haworth [2]
1956: Ray Gunter [2]
1960: Lord Lindgren [2]
1963: Tom G. Bradley [2]
1967: Walter Johnson [2]
1979: Jim Mills [2]

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References

  1. ↑ Jim Mortimer, A History of the Association of Engineering and Shipbuilding Draughtsmen, p.74
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Malcolm Wallace, Single or Return?: The History of the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association, pp.112-113
  3. 1 2 3 University of Warwick, "National Federation of Professional Workers"
  4. 1 2 Arthur Marsh and Victoria Ryan, Historical Directory of Trade Unions, vol.1, p.149
Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick

The Modern Records Centre (MRC) is the specialist archive service of the University of Warwick in Coventry, England, located adjacent to the Central Campus Library. It was established in October 1973 and holds the world's largest archive collection on British industrial relations, as well as archives relating to many other aspects of British social, political and economic history.

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