The Confederation of Health Service Employees (COHSE) was a

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

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 (s ...

representing workers primarily in 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 " ...

History

The union was founded in 1946 with the merger of the

Mental Hospital and Institutional Workers Union The Mental Hospital and Institutional Workers' Union was a trade union in the United Kingdom. The union was established as the National Asylum Workers' Union in 1910 by asylum attendants in Lancashire. George Gibson became its General Secretar ...

and the Hospital and Welfare Services Union, with the aim of having one union to represent workers in the

on its formation. In 1993, COHSE merged with two other trade unions - NUPE (the

National Union of Public Employees The National Union of Public Employees (NUPE) was a British trade union which existed between 1908 and 1993. It represented public sector workers in local government, the Health Service, universities, and water authorities. History The union ...

) and NALGO (the

National and Local Government Officers Association The National and Local Government Officers' Association was a British trade union representing mostly local government "white collar" workers. It was formed in 1905 as the National Association of Local Government Officers, and changed its full ...

) - to form

UNISON In music, unison is two or more musical parts that sound either the same pitch or pitches separated by intervals of one or more octaves, usually at the same time. ''Rhythmic unison'' is another term for homorhythm. Definition Unison or pe ...

, the largest public sector trade union in the UK.

Major COHSE campaigns

:1948: Nursing Students Pay :1959: Unofficial Overtime ban :1962: Nurses Pay (Lets twist again) :1972–73: Ancillary Pay strikes (Low pay) :1974: Nurses Pay (Halsbury) :1974?: Private Patients Dispute :1979: Public Sector Pay (Winter of Discontent) :1982: NHS Staff Pay campaign (12%claim) :1988: Nurses Pay (Clinical Grading) :1989–1990: Ambulance Dispute

Election results

The union sponsored Labour Party candidates at each Parliamentary election from 1979.

Leadership

General Secretaries

:1946: George Gibson :1947:

Cliff Comer Clifford Frank Comer (22 April 1896''1939 England and Wales Register'' – 22 January 1978) was a British trade unionist. Born in Weston-super-Mare, Comer began working as a mental health nurse at Wells Hospital. He joined the Mental Hospita ...

:1953:

Jack Waite Jack Waite (born May 1, 1969) is an American former tennis player. Waite won 3 doubles titles during his professional career. The right-hander reached his highest doubles ATP ATP may refer to: Companies and organizations * Association of ...

:1958:

Jack Jepson Jack D. Jepson is a former association football player who represented New Zealand at international level. Jepson made a single appearance in an official international for the All Whites in a 1–4 loss to Australia Australia, offic ...

:1967:

Dick Akers Dick, Dicks, or Dick's may refer to: Media * ''Dicks'' (album), a 2004 album by Fila Brazillia * Dicks (band), a musical group * ''Dick'' (film), a 1999 American comedy film * "Dick" (song), a 2019 song by Starboi3 featuring Doja Cat Names ...

:1969: Frank Lynch :1974:

Albert Spanswick Ernest Albert George Spanswick (2 October 1919 – 27 April 1983) was a British trade unionist. Born in Parkstone, Spanswick served with the Royal Army Medical Corps during World War II. After the war, he qualified as a State Registered Nurse ...

:1983: David Williams :1987:

Hector MacKenzie Hector Uisdean MacKenzie, Baron MacKenzie of Culkein (born 25 February 1940) is a Scottish nurse and former trade union official. The son of George MacKenzie and Williamina Sutherland was educated on the Isle of Erraid Public School, in Argyll ...

Presidents

:1946:

Claude Bartlett Claude Bartlett (1897–1 April 1972) was a British trade union leader. Bartlett worked in asylums and joined the National Asylum Workers' Union in 1919. He became President of the union in 1927, which in 1931 was renamed the "Mental Hospital ...

:1962: Ron Farmer :1965: Bob Vickerstaff :1976: Eric Wilson :1982: Sid Ambler :1987: Colin Robinson

References

External links

COHSE BlogCatalogue of the COHSE archives
held at the

Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick The Modern Records Centre (MRC) is the specialist archive service of the University of Warwick in Coventry, England, located adjacent to the Central Campus Library. It was established in October 1973 and holds the world's largest archive collecti ...

{{Authority control Defunct trade unions of the United Kingdom 1946 establishments in the United Kingdom Trade unions established in 1946 Trade unions disestablished in 1993 Trade unions based in Surrey