In this issue
Agricultural workers unions
Liverpool & District Carters & Motormen’s Union and quarterly badges
Fishing and fish workers unions NUM badges
Union labels
union
to this edition and thanks for the continuing support and contributions.
Welcome Thankstothe MRCWarwick fortheirhelp andforpu ng our newsle ersin their catalogue,onlineand the againWCML for allowingus photograph,to this aroundmethe builders (OBS) trowels. Ifallgoesto plan,wewill belookingat brassand metal workers unionsinnextedi onsoif youhave anythingtosendplease themin. Wedoneed your assistance, therearelots of knowledge,collectors, info totapinto!So, Ar photos,cles, badgesto sell/swop, ideas, suggesandons for future publica ons canbesentin atany me, is importantif weare sustaintofourons peryear
If all goes to plan, we will be looking at STUC and TUC regions in the next edition so if you would like to add anything, badges, leaflets, photos, please send them in.
We do need your assistance, there are lots of collections, knowledge, and info to tap into!
So, Articles, photos, badges to sell/swop, ideas, and suggestions for future publications can be sent in at any time, this is important if we are to sustain four publications per year which is getting increasingly difficult to achieve.
stevewbaguley@gmail.com
In this issue
03
03
09 Agricultural Workers Unions
11
19
14
Tin
Trade Union Badge Collectors Society
For collectors of trade union badges and ephemera
e-mail:stevewbaguley@gmail.com
website: https://tubcs.wordpress.com
The Trade Union Badge Collectors Society is sponsored by the Communication Workers Union
The Friendly Society of Agricultural Labourers was formed in October 1833 in the Dorset village of Tolpuddle.
On 24 February 1834 George Loveless, his brother James; Thomas Standfield, his eldest son, John; James Hammett and James Brine were arrested. Although trade unions were legal the men were convicted under a littleknown law governing the use of a secret oath in their society.
These men became known as the Tolpuddle Martyrs. Their sentence was seven years' transportation to Australia. However, faced with mounting pressure the government reduced them to four years.
The Warwickshire Agricultural Labourers Union was formed in 1872 by Joseph Arch. The union grew rapidly and became the National Agricultural Labourers Union
A combination of strike defeats and poor harvests resulted in a large fall in membership and the union was dissolved in 1896.
The Kent Agricultural Labourers Union was formed in 1872 and in 1873 changed its name to the Kent Agricultural and General Labourers Union and then to the Kent and East Sussex Agricultural Labourers Union in 1875.
The union continued to expand and changed its name to the London and Southern Counties Labour League in 1888 and to the London and Counties Labour League in 1893.
The union continued as an independent organisation until 1896 when it merged with the National Amalgamated Union
The Eastern Counties
Agricultural Labourers & Small Holders Union was established in 1906 and based in the Norfolk area,
The union quickly expanded and in 1910 became the National Agricultural and Rural Workers Union.
A further name change took place in 1920 when the union became the National Union of Agricultural Workers.
The union became the National Union of Agricultural and Allied Workers in 1968,
In 1982 it merged with the Transport and General Workers Union to become its Agricultural and Allied Workers Trade Group later changing its title to the Rural Agricultural and Allied Workers Trade Group,
The Scottish Farm Servants Union was founded in 1912, when a group of farm labourers from Turriff asked the Aberdeen Trades Council to help them form a union,
The union affiliated to the Transport and General Workers Union in 1934 becoming an official section of that union until it merged fully in 1945.
The British Gardeners Association was formed in the 1880’s later renaming itself the National Agricultural Workers Union and merging with the National Union of Agricultural Workers in 1920.
1914 saw the formation of the National Farm and Dairy Workers Union which after four years as an independent union merged with the Workers Union in 1918.
National Union of Agricultural and Allied Workers for recruiting 10 members 19mm
National Union of Agricultural and Allied Workers Poultry
National Union of Agricultural and Allied Workers for recruiting 25 members 19mm
National Union of Agricultural and Allied Workers steward
National Union of Agricultural and Allied Workers Silver badge 19mm
National Union of Agricultural and Allied Workers for recruiting 50 members 19mm
National Union of Agricultural and Allied Workers County Roadmens Secrion 19mm
This medal is mentioned in the Guide, do you have one and if so, could we have a scan
National Union of Agricultural and Allied Workers Long service medal on ribbon
National Union of Agricultural and Allied Workers Whitley Bay Conference 1970 19mm
National Union of Agricultural and Allied Workers Forestry Section 19mm
National Union of Agricultural and Allied Workers 1971 13mm
National Union of Agricultural and Allied Workers 36mm
In 1873 in Ascott under Wychwood a local farmer sacked his men and employed men from the neighbouring village of Ramsden.
16 Ascott women tried to stop the Ramsden men from working and join the union.
The women were arrested and charged with coercion and obstruction. Over 1000 locals rioted in an attempt to free the women but failed.
A campaign to free the women went as far as petioning Queen Victoria who pardoned the women and had them released.
1872-1874
Warwickshire Agricultural Labourers Union
1872-1872 Milton Agricultural Labourers Union
1872-1873
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Agricultural Labourers Union
1874-1896 National Agricultural Labourers Union
1866 – 1872
Buckinghamshire Agricultural Labourers Union
1872-1872
Staffordshire Agricultural Labourers Protection Society
1875-1890 West Dereham District Union Norfolk
1906-1910 Eastern Counties Agricultural Labourers & Small Holders Union
-1920 National Agricultural Labourers and Rural Workers Union
1920-1968 National Union of Agricultural Workers
1968-1982 National Union of Agricultural and Allied Workers
1982 Transport and General Workers Union
1866-1872 Agricultural Labourers Protection Association
1872-1888 Kent and Sussex Agricultural Labourers' Union
?-1872 Sussex Agricultural Workers Union
1888-1891 London and Southern Counties Labour League
1891-1896 London and Counties Labour League
1896 National Amalgamated Union of Labour
The fishing industry was once a major employer in the UK, In the 1800’s many port-based fishing unions were formed but failed to have a permanent existence.
The Grimsby Steam Fishing Vessels' Engineers' and Firemen's Union was formed in 1896.
It changed its name to the Grimsby Steam and Diesel Fishing Vessels’ Engineers’ and Firemen’s Union in 1961.
In 1973, the union was expelled from the TUC, for registering with the government, in defiance of TUC policy.
It merged into the Transport and General Workers' Union in 1976 becoming the 10/3c branch,
The Humber Amalgamated Steam Trawlers', Engineers' and Firemen's Union was established in the early 1900s.
In 1938, the Union merged with the Transport and General Workers' Union.
The Grimsby Fishermen’s Trade Union was formed in 1917 and in 1919 amalgamated with the Port of Grimsby Trawl Fishermen’s Protection Society (formed1901) to form the National Union of British Fishermen.
In 1922 the union became one of the first unions to merge with the Transport and General Workers Union.
The Tyne Steam Packet Provident Society was founded in 1853 and in 1923 the union amalgamated with the South Shields Steam Tug-boatmen’s Provident Society (1842) to form the North East Coast Tugboatmen and Fishermens’s Association.
The union changed its name to the United Fishermen’s Union in 1961 and in 1966 merged with the Transport and General Workers Union
In 1899 the Aberdeen Steam Fishing Vessels Enginemen's and Firemen's Union was formed becoming the Scottish Steam Fishing Vessels' Enginemen and Firemen's Union in 1905.
In 1924, the union changed its name to the Scottish Seafishers' Union
In 1937, it merged into the Transport and General Workers' Union.
The Milford Haven Amalgamated Steam Trawlers Engineers Union was formed in 1914 and dissolved in 1965.
While most of the unions for the crew either dissolved or merged in to the Transport and General Workers Union, officers had their own organisations.
The Mercantile Marine Trawlermen’s Association was formed in 1919 and merged with the Mercantile Marine Service Association in 1936.
The Grimsby Trawler Officers Guild was formed in 1954 and merged with the Merchant Navy and Airline Officers Association in1976.
1873-1923 Tyne Steam Packet Provident Society
1842-1923 South Shields Steam Tugboatmen’s Provident Society
1923-1961 North East Coast Tugboatmen and Fishermens’s Association
1961-1966 United Fishermens Union
1896-1961 Grimsby Steam Fishing Vessels' Engineers' and Firemen's Union
1961-1976 Grimsby Steam and Diesel Fishing Vessels’ Engineers’ and Firemen’s Union
1954-1976 Grimsby Trawler Officers Guild
1899-1905 Aberdeen Steam Fishing Vessels Enginemen's and Firemen's Union
1905-1924 Scottish Steam Fishing Vessels' Enginemen and Firemen's Union
1917-1919 Grimsby Fishermen’s Trade Union
1900’s-1938 Humber Amalgamated Steam Trawlers', Engineers' and Firemen's Union
1901-1919 Port of Grimsby Trawl Fishermen’s Protection Society
1919-1922 National Union of British Fishermen
1924-1937 Scottish Seafishers' Union
1956-1985 Merchant Navy and Airline Officers' Association
1857-1985 Mercantile Marine Service Association
1985 National Union of Marine, Aviation and Shipping Transport Officers
1910-1936 Mercantile Marine Trawlermen’s Association
During the 1984/85 miners’ strike thousands of different tin badges were produced. By the National Union of Mineworkers, Mining areas, individual mining branches, women’s support groups, regional support groups, trade union support groups and international support groups, there has also been regular issues of badges on the anniversary of the strike from 5 years right up to the 30th anniversary, no doubt more will be produced this year for the 40th anniversary.
Attached are a small selection from my collection. The badges range from 25mm to 55mm in size. The first is a page of National Union of Mineworkers badges, next is a selection of area badges, then Branch badges, support group badges, other union support badges. All the badges were used to raise funds for striking miners and to generate solidarity.
There is now a thriving market in replica badges which are newly produced and not authorised by the NUM or any trade union or support group, be careful when buying them on line, if they look new, they probably are.
Dave Cliff
Follow up to Trades Union Council badges
Follow up from previous issues, badges for identification and anything else you want to send in.
In 2015 our sponsoring union, the CWU, produced an illustrated booklet of their history.
This 46-page booklet is still available, £5 including P&P.
At the time of publication, we did say that additions would be welcome for a future edition, and there have been many, however an updated version is not an option at this time.
But for the records and having been asked, it is our intention to show additional badges in a future edition of our journal. We did turn up a few unknown badges last time, so if you have any Postal/Telecoms unions related badges, not listed in the collector’s guide, then please we would like to see images of them to assist.
UNISON commissioned a consortium of companies including Selecraft to update its badge. The Selecraft desgn is above while the badge UNISON adopted is below.
The Felt Hatters imitated their US comrades in producing a union label which was fixed inside the leather head band of a union made hat.
When the scheme started in 1895 the union produced a large paper stamp. By mid-1895 a smaller postage sized stamp was used, which friendly employers had employees insert in to the finished hat.
The union produced a carefully worked out set of procedures to ensure that no non-union firm could steal the label and insert them in to scab hats.
The scheme was widely publicised via shop cards and friendly publications i.e, TUC reports etc.
The practice ceased in the early 1960’s when the hat market collapsed.
About 1875, organized Cigarmakers in the US and Canada started to affix a paper “Union Made” label on the cigar boxes, and many unions, particularly those whose members produced consumer items, followed suit.
North American unions believed they could increase their strength by promoting purchases of goods made by their members, and conversely discouraging purchases from non-union enterprises. In some cases, the attraction of being able to display the union label on goods prompted employers to drop their resistance to unionization of their workforce.
(There is a fine article about the use of the union label in the UK by Peter Carter in the TUBCN No. 47, back in February 1995 –DY)
Considerable energy was put into this strategy: the American Federation of Labor, subsequently the AFL-CIO, and Canadian centrals like the Canadian Labour Congress all
had, and in some cases still have, departments or committees specifically tasked with promoting “Union Label” purchasing.
Another major aspect of union label promotion was the distribution to the public of practical items, bearing the union label image and message.
People could make good use of these items, and at the same time, they served an ongoing advertising function; both would presumably be appreciated.
Over the years, up to the 1980’s, a wide variety of union label giveaways were produced. The Barber’s Union pen above (ca 1920) is just one example. Here is a sampling of others:
Pocket Mirrors: on one side, appearing like a large button badge, but on the other, instead of a fastener, there was a mirror, and the item would fit handily in a woman’s purse or man’s vest pocket.
Match safes and matchbox holders: before cigarette lighters were common, the match safe was a waterproof metal container for holding matches and keeping them dry. Later, unions issued U shaped metal pieces designed to hold conventional cardboard match boxes
The mystery item is a small (about 1”x2”) celluloid envelope, containing three sheets of what appear to be adhesive cloth, coloured white, black and flesh toned. A number of unions issued this item, about the time of WWI; I have never been able to discover what it was used for. Most of the items shown date from about 1900 to the late 1930’s; the Amazing Scissors Sharpener was issued in the late 1950’s or early 1960’s, by
the Ladies’ Garment Workers Union – one of the many that have since disappeared due the savage combination of automation, deindustrialization, outsourcing to low wage areas, and a concerted anti-union campaign by North American employers. With very few consumer items now produced by unionized workers, the union label program has generally atrophied. Unions still issue modern equivalents (often to do with electronic gadgets)
but the distribution is largely to the unions’ membership, rather than the public.
But in some areas, the union label culture still prevails. As one example, it is still a matter of principled importance that a “union bug” appear on any printed matter issued by unions or other progressive organizations. And, like the old Barber’s pen, many unions still issue pens, pencils and rulers to promote the union and remind the public of the work they do.