The Communication Workers Union is 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 ...

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 1922 as the Irish Post Office Engineering Union, splitting from the British

Post Office Engineering Union The Post Office Engineering Union (POEU) was a trade union in the United Kingdom. It represented engineering staff in the Post Office, mostly working in telecommunications. History The union was founded in 1915 when the Post Office Enginee ...

following the establishment of the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State (6 December 192229 December 1937), also known by its Irish-language, Irish name ( , ), was a State (polity), state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-ye ...

. The following year, it merged with the

Irish Postal Union The Irish Postal Union (IPU) was a trade union representing clerks, telegraphists and telephonists working in the Post Office in Ireland. The union was founded in 1900 as the Dual Workers' Association, and in 1904 it was renamed as the Association ...

and the Irish Postal Workers' Union, forming the

United Postal Union The Postal and Telecommunications Workers' Union was a trade union representing communication workers in Ireland. The union was founded in 1923 when the Irish Postal Union merged with the Irish Postal Workers' Union and the Irish Post Office Engi ...

, but the IPOEU was unhappy with the arrangements, and so withdrew before the merger was completed, continuing an independent existence. It was renamed the Communications Union of Ireland in 1985, while in 1989, it was joined by the

Postal Telecommunications Workers' Union The Postal and Telecommunications Workers' Union was a trade union representing communication workers in Ireland. The union was founded in 1923 when the Irish Postal Union merged with the Irish Postal Workers' Union and the Irish Post Office Engi ...

and adopted its current name.

General Secretaries

:1945: Francis Walsh :1946: Seán Mac Bhárd :1949: Malachy Dooney :1967: Seamus De Paor :1990: David Begg :1997: Con Scanlon :2004: Steve Fitzpatrick :2022: Seán McDonagh

References

External links

Official website
{{Irish Congress of Trade Unions Trade unions established in 1922 Trade unions in the Republic of Ireland Communications trade unions 1922 establishments in Ireland