The Community and Youth Workers Union (CYWU) was a British

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 ...

created in 1938 by ten female

voluntary sector In relation to public services, the voluntary sector is the realm of social activity undertaken by non-governmental, not for profit organizations. This sector is also called the third sector (in contrast to the public sector and the private sec ...

workers. It is now a section of

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 ...

. Its members were mainly made up of youth workers, workers in youth theatre,

community education Community education, also known as Community-Based Education or Community Learning & Development, or Development Education is an organization's programs to promote learning and social development work with individuals and groups in their commun ...

outdoor education Outdoor education is organized learning that takes place in the outdoors, such as during school camping trips. Outdoor education programs sometimes involve residential or quest, journey wilderness-based experiences which engage participants in a v ...

, play workers and personal advisers/mentors. It produced a regular magazine for members, ''

Rapport Rapport ( ; ) is a close and harmonious relationship in which the people or groups concerned are "in sync" with each other, understand each other's feelings or ideas, and communicate smoothly. The word derives from the French language, French ve ...

''. The union had not authorised any national

strike action Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike in British English, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to Working class, work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Str ...

prior to 2004, although the CYWU is the majority union of the Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) for youth and community workers. The CYWU voted to join the

Transport and General Workers' Union The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU or T&G) was one of the largest general union, general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland—where it was known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union (ATGWU)—with 900 ...

(TGWU) at its 2005 Conference. The merger was confirmed on 13 September 2006, following a vote amongst the unions membership (with 82% in favour on a 26% turnout) and approved by the Trades Union Certification Officer on 8 January 200

The General Secretary of CYWU from 1987 until 2007 was Doug Nicholls (trade unionist), Doug Nicholls, who was also secretary of Trade Unionists Against the EU Constitution (UK). In 2009 the first full history of the union was published ''Building Rapport: a brief history of the Community and Youth Workers' Union,'' by Doug Nicholls. This is available from the CYWU section office of Unite the union.

External links

Official site

Catalogue of the CYWU 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 collect ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Community And Youth Workers' Union Defunct trade unions of the United Kingdom 1938 establishments in the United Kingdom Trade unions established in 1938 Trade unions disestablished in 2006 Transport and General Workers' Union amalgamations Trade unions based in the West Midlands (county)

See also

External links