Amalgamated Association of Beamers, Twisters and Drawers (Hand and Machine)
| Full name | Amalgamated Association of Beamers, Twisters and Drawers (Hand and Machine) |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1866 |
| Date dissolved | 2002 |
| Members transferred | Manufacturing, Science and Finance |
| Members | 1,065 (1980) |
| Affiliation | General Federation of Trade Unions, Trade Union Congress |
| Key people | William Cornforth Robinson (Secretary) |
| Office location | Blackburn |
| Country | United Kingdom |
The Amalgamated Association of Beamers, Twisters and Drawers (Hand and Machine) (AABTD) was a British trade union representing workers in the cotton industry.
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,[1] and officially registered the following year. In 1915, it added "Hand and Machine" to its name.[2] By this time, it had also affiliated to the United Textile Factory Workers' Association.[3]
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.[4] In the 1940s and 1950s, it was led by Harry Earnshaw, also a member of the National Executive Committee.[5]
By 1980, the union had only 1,065 members,[1] and by 1989 this had declined to just 470, although its members were determined not to merge into a larger union.[6] Given the precipitous decline in membership, it disaffiliated from the Trades Union Congress in 1992,[7] and eventually its remaining members transferred to Manufacturing, Science and Finance in 1998, with the union being formally dissolved in 2002.[8]
General Secretaries
- J. Ashton
- 1890: William Cornforth Robinson
- 1932: James Stott
- 1940: Harry Earnshaw
- 1961: A. Green
- 1963: James Bleackley
- 1968: G. Borrah
- 1974: F. Sumner
- 1982: A. Little
- 1985: Albert H. Edmundson
- 1991: Tony Brindle
References
- 1 2 Exton, Jack; Gill, Colin (1981). The Trade Union Directory. London: Pluto Press. p. 177.
- ↑ University of Warwick, "A Catalogue of the Papers of the Amalgamated Association of Beamers, Twisters and Drawers"
- ↑ P. F. Clarke, Lancashire and the New Liberalism, p.93
- ↑ The Labour Who's Who (1927), p.185
- ↑ Denis Healey, Healey's eye: a photographic memoir, p.22
- ↑ Roger Undy, Trade Union Merger Strategies, p.62
- ↑ Roger Undy, Managing the Unions, pp.298-300
- ↑ Tom Wilson, The Future for Unions
