Coopers' Federation of Great Britain

The Coopers' Federation of Great Britain was a trade union representing coopers in the United Kingdom and, initially, also in Ireland.

Coopers' Federation of Great Britain
Merged intoNational Union of General and Municipal Workers
Founded1926
Dissolved1979
Headquarters269 Burdett Road, Limehouse, London
Location
  • United Kingdom
Members
10,000+ (1950s)
AffiliationsTUC

The union was founded in 1926 as the Coopers' Federation of Great Britain and Ireland. It brought together five unions which retained a high level of independence:[1]

UnionFoundedAffiliatedMerged
Amalgamated Society of Coopers187819261970
Liverpool Coopers' Friendly, Trade and Burial Society184319261965
Manchester, Salford and District Society of Brewers' and General Coopers18451926N/A
National Association of Coopers182119261947
National Trade Union of Coopers194719471970
Philanthropic Society of Journeymen Coopers of Burton-on-Trent and Vicinity18531926c.1969

With the long-term decline of the industry, its affiliates gradually merged. In 1970, the Amalgamated and the National merged and became an integral part of the union, leaving only the Manchester Coopers as an affiliate.[1]

Membership of the union was more than 10,000 in the 1950s, but declined to only 1,000 in 1979. In 1978, the union renamed itself as the Coopers' and Allied Workers' Federation of Great Britain in an attempt to reposition itself, but it decided instead to merge into the National Union of General and Municipal Workers in 1979.[1]

General Secretaries
1926: George William Harrison
1927: R. W. Mann
1942: J. S. Wilkie
1948: Ted Pettengell
1970s: W. Marshall

References
  1. Arthur Marsh and Victoria Ryan, Historical Directory of British Trade Unions, vol.3, pp.389-401
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.