The Association of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staffs (ASTMS) was a British

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 ...

which existed between 1969 and 1988.

History

The ASTMS was created in 1969 when ASSET (the

Association of Supervisory Staffs, Executives and Technicians The Association of Supervisory Staffs, Executives and Technicians (ASSET), was a British trade union, chiefly representing supervisors in the metal working and transport industries. It was formed from the National Foremen's Association, foun ...

) merged with the AScW (the

Association of Scientific Workers The Association of Scientific Workers (AScW) was a trade union in the United Kingdom. It was founded as the National Union of Scientific Workers in 1918, changing its name to the Association of Scientific Workers in 1927. The union largely rep ...

) under the leadership of joint general secretaries: Clive Jenkins of ASSET and John Dutton of the AScW. ASSET, the larger of the two unions, began as the National Foremen's Association and chiefly represented supervisors in metal working and transport. Covering both the public and private sectors, AScW largely represented laboratory and technical workers in universities, the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

and in chemical and metal manufacturing. The AScW could name half-a-dozen

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

winners amongst its membership. By the end of 1970, Clive Jenkins had become sole general secretary of the union. With advertising and personal appearances on television he kept ASTMS in the public's eye, within 15 years the union had expanded from 65,000 members to a figure approaching 500,000. This was achieved both by individual recruitment and by merging with small unions and staff associations, such as the

Managers' and Overlookers' Society {{Infobox union , name = Managers' and Overlookers' Society , location_country= United Kingdom , members = 3,475 (1925) , full_name = , image = , founded = 1912 , dissolved = 1977 , merged_label = Merged , ...

, Medical Practitioners' Union, the United Commercial Travellers' Association of Great Britain and Ireland, the Union of Insurance Staffs and the

Prudential Assurance Staff Association Prudential may refer to: Companies * Prudential plc, a British multinational insurance company ** Prudential BSN Takaful, a Malaysian takaful company ** ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, an Indian company * Prudential Financial, an American financ ...

. The number of mergers was eventually to exceed 30. In 1976, trade union activist Sheila McKechnie was appointed as the full-time Health and Safety Director of ASTMS. McKechnie remained with ASTMS until her appointment as Chief Executive of the homeless charity

Shelter Shelter is a small building giving temporary protection from bad weather or danger. Shelter may also refer to: Places * Port Shelter, Hong Kong * Shelter Bay (disambiguation), various locations * Shelter Cove (disambiguation), various locatio ...

. In 1988, ASTMS merged with TASS (

Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section The Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section (TASS) was a British trade union. History The union was founded in 1913 by 200 draughtsmen, as the Association of Engineering and Shipbuilding Draughtsmen (AESD). It expanded rapidly, and ...

), the federated white collar section of the AUEW (Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers) to form MSF ( Manufacturing, Science and Finance). On 1 January 2002 MSF was to amalgamate with the AEEU ( Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union, a successor to AUEW) to form Amicus. On 1 May 2007, Amicus merged with the TGWU to form Unite, which is the second biggest trade union in the UK by membership.

Amalgamations

A large number of smaller unions merged into the ASTMS: * 1970: Medical Practitioners' UnionJohn B. Smethurst and Peter Carter, ''Historical Directory of Trade Unions'', vol.6, pp.197-198 * 1971: Union of Insurance Staffs * 1972: Dundee College of Technology Staff Association, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art Staff Association * 1973: Assurance Representatives Organisation * 1974: Engineer Surveyors' Association, Kodak Senior Staff Association, Midland Bank Technical and Services Staff Association, National Union of Insurance Workers (London and Manchester Section), Union of Speech Therapists * 1976: Health Service Chiropodists' Association, National Association of Liverpool Victoria Managers, Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Staff Association, United Commercial Travellers' Association of Great Britain and Ireland * 1977: Group One Staff Association,

* 1978: Excess Insurance Group Staff Association, National Union of Insurance Workers (Pearl Federation) * 1979: Colonial Mutual Life Assurance Society Field Staff Association, Management Association of Reckitt and Colman, National Union of Insurance Workers (Refuge Section) * 1980: Australia and New Zealand Group Ltd London Staff Association, Britannic Assurance Chief Office Staff Association, Telephone Contract Officers' Association * 1982: Commonwealth and Overseas Service Employees Staff Association * 1983: Youth Hostels Association Staff Association * 1985: Bank of New Zealand London Staff Association, Clerical and Secretarial Staffs Association of the University of Liverpool, Grindlays Staff Association * 1986: Sun Alliance and London Staff Association

General Secretaries

*1969: John Dutton and Clive Jenkins *1970: Clive Jenkins

References

External links

Catalogue of the ASTMS archives
held at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick {{Authority control Defunct trade unions of the United Kingdom 1969 establishments in the United Kingdom Trade unions established in 1969 Trade unions disestablished in 1988 1988 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Trade unions based in London