Leadership
Presidents
- 1910: Harry Gosling
- 1924:
Secretaries
- 1910: James Anderson
- 1912: Robert Williams
- 1925: Frederick James Maynard
The National Transport Workers' Federation (NTWF) was an association of British trade unions. It was formed in 1910 to co-ordinate the activities of various organisations catering for dockers, seamen, tramwaymen and road transport workers.
The NTWF had some success as an organisational tool and as a symbol of trade union unity, but since its member unions retained full control over their own affairs it was not always able to have a direct influence on trade disputes. One of its members William Ball, was the subject of a pamphlet 'Torture in an English Prison' about his treatment as a male union supporter of women's right to vote in 1911. [1] In 1912, it called a National Dock Strike in support of London dockers which was observed only in a few centres, and which ended within a week. This was regarded as an embarrassing setback, and led the Federation to adopt a more cautious approach in subsequent years. In 1921 it was criticised for failing to bring out its members in support of the miners in the Black Friday crisis.
The NTWF laid the foundations for the creation of the Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU) in 1922. The TGWU initially affiliated, but left in 1923, and the federation accomplished little thereafter, dissolving in 1927. [2]
In 1918, the federation's affiliates were: [3]
In British politics, an affiliated trade union is one that is linked to the Labour Party. The party was created by the trade unions and socialist societies in 1900 as the Labour Representation Committee and the unions have retained close institutional links with it.
The Transport and General Workers' Union was one of the largest general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland – where it was known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union (ATGWU) to differentiate itself from the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union – with 900,000 members. It was founded in 1922, and its first general secretary was Ernest Bevin.
The Dock, Wharf, Riverside and General Labourers Union (DWRGLU), often known as the Dockers' Union, was a British trade union representing dock workers in the United Kingdom.
The National Union of Dock Labourers (NUDL) was a trade union in the United Kingdom which existed between 1889 and 1922.
The Scottish Union of Dock Labourers was a Glasgow-based trade union for waterfront workers. It was formed during the seamen's and dockers' strikes of June–July 1911. Locally, it replaced the National Union of Dock Labourers, which had been formed in Glasgow in 1889 but later became unpopular in that port, finally closing its local branch in February 1910. The president of the SUDL throughout its lifetime was Joe Houghton. The union joined the Transport & General Workers' Union in 1922, but many of its members left in 1932 to form the Scottish Transport and General Workers' Union (Docks).
Black Friday, in British labour history, refers to 15 April 1921, when the leaders of transport and rail unions announced a decision not to call for strike action in support of the miners. The epithet 'black' derives from a widespread feeling amongst labour radicals that the decision amounted to a breach of solidarity and a betrayal of the miners.
Robert Williams was a British trade union organiser.
The Amalgamated Carters, Lurrymen and Motormen's Union was a trade union representing commercial road transport workers in the north of England.
The National Amalgamated Union of Enginemen, Firemen, Mechanics, Motormen and Electrical Workers was a trade union in the United Kingdom. It represented stationary engine drivers and cranemen in a wide variety of industries, as well as less skilled workers in the electrical industry and miscellaneous workers.
The Liverpool and District Carters' and Motormen's Union (LDCMU) was a trade union representing cart drivers in the Merseyside area of England.
The Scottish Commercial Motormen's Union was a trade union in the United Kingdom. It merged with the Transport and General Workers' Union in 1971.
The Watermen, Lightermen, Tugmen and Bargemen's Union was a trade union in the United Kingdom.
The Scottish Transport and General Workers' Union (Docks) was a trade union representing dock workers in Scotland, principally around Glasgow.
The Leith dockers strike of 1913 was a strike of the dockers of Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland, from 26 June to 14 August 1913. The Dockers were part of the National Union of Dock Labourers (NUDL) union. The strike is said to have brought Leith to a standstill.
The South Side Labour Protection League was a trade union organising dock porters and stevedores in the United Kingdom.
The 1923 United Kingdom dock strike commenced in June 1923 when over 50,000 dockers were unhappy with a proposed pay reduction from 8s to 5s 6d for a four-hour minimum employment period. Ernest Bevin, the general secretary of the recently founded Transport and General Workers' Union had signed an agreement accepting this new rate of pay.
Alonza Randolph Ellis was a British politician and trade unionist.
The National Federation of Colliery Enginemen and Boiler Firemen was a union federation in the United Kingdom. Its membership changed over time, but was centred on unions representing enginemen at coal mines.
