The Irish Transport and General Workers Union (ITGWU) was a

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 ...

representing workers, initially mainly labourers, in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

History

The union was founded by

James Larkin James Larkin (28 January 1874 – 30 January 1947), sometimes known as Jim Larkin or Big Jim, was an Irish republicanism, Irish republican, socialist and trade union leader. He was one of the founders of the Irish Labour Party (Ireland), Labou ...

and

James Fearon James D. Fearon (born 1963) is the Theodore and Francis Geballe Professor of Political Science at Stanford University; he is known for his work on the theory of civil wars, international bargaining, war's inefficiency puzzle, audience costs, a ...

in January 1909 as a general union. Initially drawing its membership from branches of the

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

-based National Union of Dock Labourers, from which Larkin had been expelled, it grew to include workers in a range of industries. The ITGWU logo was the

Red Hand of Ulster The Red Hand of Ulster () is a symbol used in heraldry to denote the Irish province of Ulster and the Northern Uí Néill in particular. It has also been used however by other Irish clans across the island, including the ruling families of we ...

, which is synonymous with ancient

Gael The Gaels ( ; ; ; ) are an Insular Celtic ethnolinguistic group native to Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. They are associated with the Gaelic languages: a branch of the Celtic languages comprising Irish, Manx, and Scottish Gaelic ...

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

. The ITGWU was at the centre of the

syndicalist Syndicalism is a labour movement within society that, through industrial unionism, seeks to unionize workers according to industry and advance their demands through strikes and other forms of direct action, with the eventual goal of gainin ...

-inspired

Dublin Lockout The Dublin lock-out was a major industrial dispute between approximately 20,000 workers and 300 employers that took place in Dublin, Ireland. The dispute, lasting from 26 August 1913 to 18 January 1914, is often viewed as the most severe and ...

in 1913, the events of which left a lasting impression on the union and hence on the Irish

Labour Movement The labour movement is the collective organisation of working people to further their shared political and economic interests. It consists of the trade union or labour union movement, as well as political parties of labour. It can be considere ...

. After Larkin's departure for the United States in 1914 in the wake of the Lockout,

James Connolly James Connolly (; 5 June 1868 – 12 May 1916) was a Scottish people, Scottish-born Irish republicanism, Irish republican, socialist, and trade union leader, executed for his part in the Easter Rising, 1916 Easter Rising against British rule i ...

led the ITGWU until his execution in 1916 in the wake of the

Easter Rising The Easter Rising (), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the aim of establishing an ind ...

. In turn,

William O'Brien William O'Brien (2 October 1852 – 25 February 1928) was an Irish nationalist, journalist, agrarian agitator, social revolutionary, politician, party leader, newspaper publisher, author and Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons of ...

became the union's leading figure, and ultimately served as general secretary for many years. Throughout World War I, the ITGWU consistently opposed Irish belligerence, and staunchly supported the advanced nationalist cause. In fact, ITGWU members, in the uniform of the Irish Citizen Army, played a leading role in the Easter Rising, while the Transport Union led a national strike that crippled an attempt to introduce conscription to Ireland in 1918. In 1923, Larkin formed a new union, the

Workers' Union of Ireland The Workers' Union of Ireland (WUI), later the Federated Workers' Union of Ireland, was an Ireland, Irish trade union formed in 1924. In 1990, it merged with the Irish Transport and General Workers Union to form the SIPTU, Services, Industrial, P ...

, to which many of the ITGWU's

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

members affiliated. The ITGWU nevertheless remained the dominant force in Irish

trade unionism 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 ...

, especially outside the capital. William O'Brien and James Larkin remained bitter personal enemies, and when Larkin and his supporters were readmitted into the Labour Party in the early 1940s, O'Brien engineered a split in the party, with the new National Labour Party claiming that the main party had been infiltrated by

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

s. A further split occurred in the

Irish Trades Union Congress The Irish Trades Union Congress (ITUC) was a union federation covering the island of Ireland. History Until 1894, representatives of Irish trade unions attended the British Trades Union Congress (TUC). However, many felt that they had little i ...

when that body accepted the WUI's membership in 1945. The ITGWU left the Congress and established the rival Congress of Irish Unions. From the 1950s on proposals to merge the two unions were floated. Finally, in 1990, the ITGWU merged with the Workers' Union of Ireland to form SIPTU (Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union). The ITGWU should not be confused with the British-based

Transport and General Workers Union The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU or T&G) 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)—with 900,000 members (a ...

, which organised in Ireland under the name ''Amalgamated Transport and General Workers Union'' (ATGWU) and is now

Unite the Union Unite the Union, commonly known as Unite, is a trade union in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland, formed on 1 May 2007 by the merger of Amicus (trade union), Amicus and the Transport and General Workers' Union. A general union ...

Mergers

The union absorbed numerous smaller trade unions:Arthur Marsh and John B. Smethurst, ''Historical Directory of Trade Unions'', vol.5, pp.465–467 :1914: Dublin Coal Factors' Association :1915: Kilkenny Brewery Labourers' Trade Union :1917: Irish Glass Bottle Makers' Society, Rathmines and District Workers' Union :1918: Stonecutters' Union of Ireland (split 1925) :1919: Brewery Workers' Association (Cork), Carpet Planners of the City of Dublin, Dublin Saddlers and Harness Makers' Trade Society, Irish Land and Labour Association, Irish National Agricultural and General Workers' Union, Mullingar Trade and Labour Union, Queenstown and District Government Labourers' Union :1920: United Building Labourers and General Workers of Dublin Trade Union :1921: Amalgamated Society of Pork Butchers (Limerick and Waterford) :1922: Meath Labour Union :1923: Irish Automobile Drivers' Society :1925: Irish Mental Hospital Workers' Union :1938: Dublin Coal Factors' Association, Dublin United Tramway and Omnibus Inspectors' Association :1941: Limerick Corporation Employees' Union :1943: Tipperary Workingmen's Protective and Benefit Society :1950: Cumann Teicneori Innealoireachta :1953: Clothing Workers' Union (Derry) :1976: National Union of Gold, Silver and Allied Trades (Irish branches) :1977: Irish Shoe and Leather Workers' Union :1979: Irish Actors' Equity Association :1981: Irish Racecourse Bookmakers' Assistants' Association :1982: Irish Federation of Musicians and Associated Professionals (later split)

Leadership

General Secretaries

:1909:

:1924:

:1946: Tom Kennedy :1948: Frank Purcell :1959: Fintan Kennedy :1969:

Michael Mullen Michael Glenn Mullen (born 4 October 1946) is a retired United States Navy Admiral (United States), admiral who served as the 17th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from October 2007 to September 2011. Mullen was the 32nd vice chief of Nav ...

:1983: Christy Kirwan

General presidents

:1909: Thomas Foran :1939: Tom Kennedy :1946: William McMullen :1953: John Conroy :1969: Fintan Kennedy :1981: John Carroll

Vice-Presidents

:1924: Tom Kennedy :1940: William McMullen :1947: John Conroy :1953: Edward Browne :1969: John Carroll :1981: Tom O'Brien :1982: Christy Kirwan :1983: Edmund Browne

References

{{Authority control Syndicalist trade unions Defunct trade unions of Ireland Road transport trade unions 1908 establishments in Ireland Trade unions established in 1909 Trade unions disestablished in 1990 Transport trade unions in Ireland 1990 disestablishments in Ireland