The Electrical Trades Union was a

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 ...

representing electrical technicians and engineers in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. The union was founded in 1923 when the electrical section of the Irish Engineering Industrial Union split away. Initially, it was named the Electrical Trades Union (Dublin), but became the Electrical Trades Union (Ireland) in 1925. It joined the

Irish Trades Union Congress The Irish Trades Union Congress (ITUC) was a union federation covering the island of Ireland. History Until 1894, representatives of Irish trade unions attended the British Trades Union Congress (TUC). However, many felt that they had little i ...

, then joined the group of unions which formed the rival Congress of Irish Unions.John B. Smethurst and Peter Carter, ''Historical Directory of Trade Unions'', vol.6, p.214 The union was initially very small, with only 240 members in 1930, but grew to 1,000 in 1940. From the 1960s onwards, the union began accepting workers in a wide variety of jobs only loosely connecting with electrical matters, and this enabled it to expand its membership above 6,000 by 1970. In 1974, the British Electrical Trades Union became part of the

Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union The Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union, known as the EETPU, was a British trade union formed in 1968 as a union for electricians and plumbers, which went through three mergers from 1992 to now be part of Unite the Un ...

, and the Irish union took the opportunity to drop the disambiguator from its own name, officially becoming the "Electrical Trades Union" for this first time. In 2001, the union merged with the

National Engineering and Electrical Trade Union The National Engineering and Electrical Trade Union (NEETU) was a trade union representing engineering workers in Ireland. The union was formed in 1920 as the Irish Engineering Industrial Union. Its first couple of years were turbulent, with the ...

to form the Technical Engineering and Electrical Union (since named Connect).

General Secretaries

:1923: Seán Duffy{{cite book , last1=Devine , first1=Francis , last2=Smethurst , first2=John B. , title=Historical Directory of Trade Unions in Ireland , date=2017 , publisher=Irish Labour History Society & Working Class Movement Library , location=Dublin , url=https://www.irishlabourhistorysociety.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Historical-Directory-of-Trade-Unions-in-Ireland.pdf , access-date=23 January 2025 :1920s: Patrick Keogh :c.1930: J. M. O'Duffy :1933: Gerry Owens :1950: Patrick Keogh :1957: George Lynch :1966: James McConway :1969: Thomas Heery :1985: Frank O'Reilly

References

Defunct trade unions of Ireland Engineering trade unions 1923 establishments in Ireland Trade unions established in 1923 Trade unions disestablished in 2001 2001 disestablishments in Ireland