The Associated Metalworkers' Union was a trade union in the United Kingdom which existed between 1863 and 1999. It represented semi-skilled foundry workers known as iron dressers or fettlers, who were responsible for removing

moulding sand Molding or moulding may refer to: * Molding (decorative) or coving, a decorative feature along walls and ceilings, formed from marble, plaster, wood, etc. * Molding (process), in manufacturing * Automotive molding * Mold (cooking implement) Se ...

and excess metal from

castings In metalworking and jewelry making, casting is a process in which a liquid metal is delivered into a Mold (manufacturing), mold (usually by a crucible) that contains a negative impression (i.e., a three-dimensional negative image) of the intende ...

History

The union was founded in about 1863 as the Iron Dressers' Society,{{cite book, last1=Eaton, first1=Jack, last2=Gill, first2=Colin, title=The Trade Union Directory, year=1981, publisher=Pluto Press, location=London, pages=100–101 gradually extending its name to Iron, Steel and Metal Dressers' Society. The exact date of its foundation is unclear; the union itself gave 1868 as the date of its foundation, while the

Board of Trade The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for International Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...

gave 1860. It was renamed in 1951 as the Iron, Steel and Metal Dressers and Kindred Trades Society, then in 1964 as the Associated Metal Workers Society, soon after taking its final name. In 1980, the union had a membership just over 6,000, but by 1994 this had declined to only 928 members.Peter Carter and John B. Smethurst, ''Historical Directory of Trade Unions: Volume 6'', p.203 Facing a dramatic drop in membership, it left the Trades Union Congress in 1987, Trades Union Congress, ''Report of 119th Annual Trades Union Congress'', p.28 but subsequently rejoined. In 1999, it merged into the

Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union The Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union (AEEU) was a British trade union. It merged with the MSF to form Amicus in 2001. History The union was founded in 1992, when the Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU) finally achieved a merger w ...

General secretaries

:1900s: C. W. Davidson :1928: Jack Wigglesworth :1958: Edward Tullock :1984: Ron Marron

References

Defunct trade unions of the United Kingdom 1863 establishments in the United Kingdom Engineering trade unions Trade unions established in 1863 1999 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Trade unions based in Greater Manchester