Fred Garfield Hague (29 September 1911''England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007'' – 13 November 1984) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

trade unionist 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 ...

Hague was born in Dixon Street, Crossbank, Waterhead, Oldham. He worked as a cotton weaver. He studied at Oldham Technical College and held the honours certificate of the City and Guilds in plain and fancy weaving, and advanced certificates in spinning. He also attended Oldham School of Commerce to study spinners' costings and W.E.A. classes in economics. He then joined the staff of Oldham Technical College as a teacher of cotton weaving. In 1939 Mr. Hague was appointed organiser and collector for the Shaw district of Oldham Weavers' Association. and joined the Ashton-under-Lyne and District Weavers' Association in 1940.''Report of the 117th Trades Union Congress'', p.390 He was elected as its general secretary by the mid-1950s, and also became prominent in the

Amalgamated Weavers' Association The Amalgamated Weavers' Association, often known as the Weavers' Amalgamation, was a trade union in the United Kingdom. Initially, it operated in competition with the North East Lancashire Amalgamated Weavers' Association in part of its area, ...

, to which it was affiliated. He joined the Army in 1940 and on demobilisation in 1945 was appointed to the Middleton branch. He became a Blackburn magistrate in 1951. He was a governor of Blackburn Technical College, and a member since its inception of the Blackburn Executive Council for the Health Services. Hague was elected as President of the Weavers' Amalgamation in 1964. He stood down in 1968 to serve a year as Chairman of the General Federation of Trade Unions, then in 1971 was elected as General Secretary of the Amalgamation.Edwin Hopwood, ''A History of the Lancashire Cotton Industry and the Amalgamated Weavers' Association'', p.190 He negotiated a merger with the

National Union of Textile and Allied Workers The Cardroom Amalgamation or Cardroom Workers' Amalgamation (CWA)Joseph L. White, ''The Limits of Trade Union Militancy'', p.240, note 9 was a British trade union which existed between 1886 and 1974. It represented workers in the cotton textil ...

which formed the

Amalgamated Textile Workers' Union The Amalgamated Textile Workers' Union (ATWU) was a trade union in Great Britain.G. P. and S. P. A. Henderson, ''Directory of British Associations & Associations in Ireland'' (8th Edition), p.7 History The union was founded in 1974, when the Ama ...

, serving as its joint General Secretary for a year, then solo for a further year, when he retired. He died in Oldham, Lancashire in 1984.

References

1911 births 1984 deaths General secretaries of the Amalgamated Weavers' Association People from Ashton-under-Lyne Presidents of the Amalgamated Weavers' Association Presidents of the General Federation of Trade Unions (UK) Trade unionists from Bolton {{UK-trade-unionist-bio-stub