The Cardroom Amalgamation or Cardroom Workers' Amalgamation (CWA)Joseph L. White, ''The Limits of Trade Union Militancy'', p.240, note 9 was a British

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

which existed between 1886 and 1974. It represented workers in the

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

textile industry The textile industry is primarily concerned with the design, production and distribution of textiles: yarn, cloth and clothing. Industry process Cotton manufacturing Cotton is the world's most important natural fibre. In the year 2007, th ...

History

The union was founded in 1886 as the Amalgamated Association of Card and Blowing Room Operatives, by the amalgamation of a few small, local unions. This followed the

Oldham Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...

weavers' strike of 1885, which had led to non-unionised cardroom workers being locked out and losing their wages. Affiliates of the union were: The union represented a wide range of workers in the textile industry, and did not discriminate on the basis of occupation or skill. The core of the union's membership were the strippers and grinders, skilled adult male mechanics, who maintained the carding engines. Almost all strippers and grinders were union members. The CWA also organised less skilled female ring spinners and other mill operatives. From 1904 onwards the only members required to have completed an apprenticeship were the strippers-and-grinders. The CWA grew rapidly and by 1910 it had 52,000 members. In 1924, it changed its name to the Amalgamated Association of Card and Blowing and Ring Room Operatives, and in 1952 it became the National Association of Card, Blowing and Ring Room Operatives, before adopting its final name, the National Union of Textile and Allied Workers (NUTAW), in 1968. The CWA was more aggressive in its attitude towards negotiating with employers than the other major cotton unions and by the mid-1960s the wages of strippers and grinders equalled those of mule spinners, traditionally the highest-paid textile workers. In 1974, the union merged with the

Amalgamated Weavers' Association The Amalgamated Weavers' Association, often known as the Weavers' Amalgamation, was a trade union in the United Kingdom. Initially, it operated in competition with the North East Lancashire Amalgamated Weavers' Association in part of its area, ...

, to form the

Amalgamated Textile Workers' Union The Amalgamated Textile Workers' Union (ATWU) was a trade union in Great Britain.G. P. and S. P. A. Henderson, ''Directory of British Associations & Associations in Ireland'' (8th Edition), p.7 History The union was founded in 1974, when the Ama ...

General secretaries

:1886: William Mullin :1920: William Thomasson :1935:

Alfred Roberts Alfred Roberts (18 April 1892 – 10 February 1970) was an English grocer, preacher and local politician. He served Grantham as alderman from 1943 to 1952 and mayor from 1945 to 1946. His second daughter, Margaret, was the first female prime ...

:1962: Joe King

Presidents

:1886: George Silk :c.1890: Enoch Jones :1896:

James Crinion James Crinion (1860 – 13 August 1932) was a British people, British trade unionist. Born in Lees, Greater Manchester, Lees, near Oldham, Lancashire, he worked as a spinner in a cotton mill from an early age. When his family moved to Chadderton, ...

:1926:

Joseph Frayne Joseph Dominic Frayne (26 February 1882 – 11 December 1942) was a British trade union leader, who served as President of the Cardroom Amalgamation and Chair of the General Federation of Trade Unions. Frayne was born in Reddish and worked f ...

:1936: Archie Robertson :1953: Harold Chorlton :1964: Jim Browning :1972: Roy Bennett

References

{{Authority control Defunct trade unions of the United Kingdom 1886 establishments in the United Kingdom Cotton industry trade unions Trade unions established in 1886 Trade unions disestablished in 1974 Trade unions based in Greater Manchester