The National Union of Warehouse and General Workers was a

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

representing workers, mostly in commercial warehouses, in the United Kingdom. The union was founded in 1911 when six local unions in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

and

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

merged, forming the Amalgamated General and Warehouse Workers' Union. Although the majority of members worked in commercial warehouses, one of the founding unions included tobacco workers, who also transferred to the new union. In 1913, the union renamed itself as the "National Union of Warehouse and General Workers".Arthur Marsh and John B. Smethurst, ''Historical Directory of Trade Unions'', vol.5, pp.104-105 The membership of the union varied considerably; it had 6,000 members on formation, but this fell to 4,000 the following year, before rising to 7,688 in 1915. It recruited huge numbers of members during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and by 1920 claimed a membership of 96,000. It was particularly successful in recruiting toymakers, and by the end of the war, around 2,000 of its members worked in the sector.Kenneth D. Brown, ''The British Toy Business: A History Since 1700'', p.94 At the start of 1921, the union merged with the Amalgamated Union of Co-operative Employees, forming the National Union of Distributive and Allied Workers.

General Secretaries

:1911: Joseph Cleary :c.1920:

William Albert Robinson William Albert Robinson (1877 – 31 December 1949) was a British Labour Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for St Helens from his election at the 1935 general election until the 1945 election. Career Robinson had ...

References

Defunct trade unions of the United Kingdom 1911 establishments in the United Kingdom Trade unions established in 1911 Retail trade unions Trade unions disestablished in 1921 1921 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Trade unions based in Merseyside