The Modern Records Centre (MRC) is the specialist

archive An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials, in any medium, or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organ ...

service of the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, located adjacent to the Central Campus Library. It was established in October 1973 and holds the world's largest archive collection on British industrial relations, as well as archives relating to many other aspects of British social, political and economic history. The BP corporate archive is located next to the MRC, but has separate staff and facilities.

Holdings

Trade unions

The Modern Records Centre holds by far the largest collection of archives of 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 ...

s in the country. The largest collection held in the centre is the archive of the

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union center, national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions that collectively represent most unionised workers in England and Wales. There are 48 affiliated unions with a total of ...

(TUC). Other significant collections of archives relating to British trade unions include: *

Amalgamated Engineering Union The Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU) was a major United Kingdom, British trade union. It merged with the Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union to form the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union in 1992. History ...

/ Amalgamated Society of Engineers * Amalgamated Slaters' and Tilers' Provident Society *

Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners The Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners (ASC&J) was a New Model Trade Union in the 1860s in the United Kingdom, representing carpenters and joiners. History The formation of the Society was spurred by the Stonemason's strike, 1859, ...

* Amalgamated Society of Lithographic Printers and Auxiliaries *

Amalgamated Society of Woodworkers The Amalgamated Society of Woodworkers (ASW) was a British trade union representing carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materia ...

Amalgamated Union of Building Trade Workers The Amalgamated Union of Building Trade Workers (AUBTW) was a British trade union. History The AUBTW was founded in 1921 when the Operative Society of Masons, Quarrymen and Allied Trades of England and Wales, the Operative Bricklayers' Societ ...

* Associated Blacksmiths', Forge and Smithy Workers' Society / Associated Blacksmiths' Society *

Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen The Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF) is a British trade union representing drivers of trains including services such as the London Underground (Tube). It is part of the International Transport Workers' Federation ...

(ASLEF) *

Association of Assistant Mistresses The Association of Assistant Mistresses (AAM) was a trade union representing female teachers in British secondary schools. The union was founded in 1884 as the Association of Assistant Mistresses in Secondary Schools Incorporated, the last part o ...

Association of Building Technicians The Association of Building Technicians (ABT) was a trade union representing architects, surveyors and related workers in the United Kingdom. History The union was founded in 1919 as the Architects' and Surveyors' Assistants' Professional Union. ...

/ Association of Architects, Surveyors and Technical Assistants * Association of Engineering and Shipbuilding Draughtsmen * Association of Executive Officers / Second Division Clerks' Association * Association of Head Mistresses *

Association of Professional, Executive, Clerical and Computer Staff The Association of Professional, Executive, Clerical and Computer Staff (APEX) was a British trade union which represented clerical and administrative employees. History The Clerks Union was formed in 1890 and later was renamed as the Nationa ...

(APEX)/ Clerical and Administrative Workers' Union /

National Union of Clerks The Association of Professional, Executive, Clerical and Computer Staff (APEX) was a Great Britain, British trade union which represented Clerk, clerical and Business administration, administrative employees. History The Clerks Union was forme ...

Association of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staffs The Association of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staffs (ASTMS) was a British trade union which existed between 1969 and 1988. History The ASTMS was created in 1969 when ASSET (the Association of Supervisory Staffs, Executives and Techn ...

(ASTMS) *

Association of Scientific Workers The Association of Scientific Workers (AScW) was a trade union in the United Kingdom. It was founded as the National Union of Scientific Workers in 1918, changing its name to the Association of Scientific Workers in 1927. The union largely rep ...

Association of Supervisory Staffs, Executives and Technicians The Association of Supervisory Staffs, Executives and Technicians (ASSET), was a British trade union, chiefly representing supervisors in the metal working and transport industries. It was formed from the National Foremen's Association, founde ...

(ASSET) / National Foremen's Association * Association of Teachers in Colleges and Departments of Education * Association of Teachers in Technical Institutions *

Association of University Teachers The Association of University Teachers (AUT) was the trade union and professional association that represented academic (teaching and research) and academic-related (librarians, IT professionals and senior administrators) staff at pre-1992 uni ...

* Barclays Bank Staff Association *

British Airline Pilots' Association The British Airline Pilots’ Association (BALPA) is the professional association and registered trade union for UK pilots. BALPA represents the views and interests of pilots, campaigning on contractual, legal and health issues affecting its ...

* Civil and Public Services Association /

Civil Service Clerical Association The Civil and Public Services Association (CPSA) was a trade union in the United Kingdom, representing civil servants. History The union was founded in 1921, when the Civil Service Clerical Union and the Clerical Officers' Association merged ...

Communication Managers' Association The Communication Managers' Association (CMA) was a trade union representing managers in the United Kingdom, principally those working for the Post Office. The union was founded in 1952 with the merger of the Post Office Controlling Officers' Ass ...

/ Post Office Management Staffs Association / Association of Post Office Controlling Officers *

Community and Youth Workers' Union The Community and Youth Workers Union (CYWU) was a British trade union created in 1938 by ten female voluntary sector workers. It is now a section of Unite the Union. Its members were mainly made up of youth workers, workers in youth theatre, co ...

Confederation of Health Service Employees The Confederation of Health Service Employees (COHSE) was a United Kingdom trade union representing workers primarily in the National Health Service. History The union was founded in 1946 with the merger of the Mental Hospital and Institutional ...

(COHSE) *

Connect Connect may refer to: Music Albums * ''Connect'' (Sick Puppies album), 2013 * ''Connect'' (Charles Tolliver album), 2020 *''Connect'', album by Mark Farina *'' Tha Connect'', a 2009 album by Willy Northpole *''Connect'', a 2009 album by Dave S ...

* Constructional Engineering Union * Electrical Trades Union *

Fire Brigades Union The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) is a trade union in the United Kingdom for wholetime firefighters (including officers up to chief fire officer / firemaster), retained firefighters and emergency control room staff. History Early 20th century ...

* Friendly Society of Iron Founders * Friendly Society of Operative Stonemasons * General Union of Carpenters and Joiners * Guild of Insurance Officials * Headmasters' Association /

Incorporated Association of Headmasters Incorporated may refer to: * Incorporated community * ''Incorporated'' (Grip Inc. album), 2004, by Grip Inc. * ''Incorporated'' (Legion of Doom album), 2006 * ''Incorporated'' (TV series), a science fiction thriller television series set in 2075 ...

Inland Revenue Staff Federation The Inland Revenue Staff Federation (IRSF) was a trade union in the United Kingdom. History The Union was born in the late 19th century, when a group of tax clerks met together to fight for higher pay, higher status and better conditions. At t ...

Iron and Steel Trades Confederation The Iron and Steel Trades Confederation (ISTC) was a British trade union for metal-workers and allied groups, being the largest union in these fields. It was formed on 1 January 1917 as a merger of existing steel-workers' unions and it is now pa ...

* London Society of Compositors * London Typographical Society * Manchester Unity of Operative Bricklayers' Society *

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 (trade unionist), George Gib ...

/ National Asylum Workers' Union * Midland Bank Staff Association * Monotype Casters' and Typefounders' Society /

Amalgamated Typefounders' Trade Society Amalgamation is the process of combining or uniting multiple entities into one form. Amalgamation, amalgam, and other derivatives may refer to: Mathematics and science * Amalgam (chemistry), the combination of mercury with another metal **Pan ama ...

* National Amalgamated Stevedores and Dockers *

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, "white collar" workers. It was formed in 1905 as the National Association of Local Government Officers, ...

(NALGO) * National Association of Operative Plasterers *

National Association of Schoolmasters The National Association of Schoolmasters (NAS) was a trade union representing male schoolteachers in the United Kingdom. History The origins of the NAS can be traced back to the formation of the National Association of Men Teachers (NAMT) in 1919 ...

National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education The National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education (NATFHE) was the British trade union and professional association for people working with those above statutory school age, and primarily concerned with providing education, tr ...

National Graphical Association The National Graphical Association (NGA) was a trade union representing typographers and related workers in the United Kingdom. History The union was formed in 1964 by the merger of two long-term rival unions, the Typographical Association an ...

* National League of the Blind and Disabled / National League of the Blind * National Society of Metal Mechanics / National Society of Brass and Metal Mechanics / National Society of Amalgamated Brassworkers * National Society of Operative Printers and Assistants (Natsopa) * National Society of Painters / National Amalgamated Society of Operative House and Ship Painters and Decorators / National Amalgamated Society of Operative House Painters and Decorators * National Union of Bank Employees / Bank Officers' Guild *

National Union of Boot and Shoe Operatives The National Union of Boot and Shoe Operatives (NUBSO) was a trade union in the United Kingdom which existed between 1873 and 1971. It represented workers in the footwear industry. History The union was founded in 1873, when many riveters and ...

* National Union of County Officers * National Union of Enginemen, Firemen, Mechanics and Electrical Workers / National Amalgamated Union of Enginemen *

National Union of Foundry Workers The National Union of Foundry Workers (NUFW) was a trade union representing workers in foundries in the United Kingdom. History The union was founded in 1920 with the merger of the Associated Iron Moulders of Scotland, the Amalgamated Society o ...

Amalgamated Union of Foundry Workers __NOTOC__ The Amalgamated Union of Foundry Workers (AUFW) was a trade union representing workers in foundries in the United Kingdom. The union was founded in 1946 with the merger of the National Union of Foundry Workers, the Ironfounding Wor ...

National Union of General and Municipal Workers The GMB is a general union, general trade union in the United Kingdom which has more than 560,000 members. Its members work in nearly all industrial sectors, in retail, security, schools, distribution, the utilities, social care, the National He ...

National Union of Glovers and Leather Workers The National Union of Glovers and Leatherworkers (NUGLW) was a trade union in the United Kingdom which existed between 1920 and 1971. It represented workers in the glove-making and leather industry. History The union was formed in 1920 by the ...

* National Union of Hosiery and Knitwear Workers *

National Union of Journalists The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) is a trade union supporting journalists in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The NUJ was founded in 1907 and has 20,693 members. It is a member of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Trades ...

* National Union of Mineworkers *

National Union of Printing, Bookbinding and Paper Workers The National Union of Printing, Bookbinding and Paper Workers (NUPBPW) was a British trade union. History The union was founded in 1921 as the National Union of Printing, Bookbinding, Machine Ruling and Paper Workers when the National Union o ...

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 w ...

(NUPE) /

National Union of Corporation Workers 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 w ...

National Union of Railwaymen The National Union of Railwaymen was a trade union of railway workers in the United Kingdom. The largest railway workers' union in the country, it was influential in the national trade union movement. History The NUR was an industrial union ...

Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants The Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants (ASRS) was a trade union of railway workers in the United Kingdom from 1872 until 1913. History The ASRS was an industrial union founded in 1871 with the support of the Liberal MP Michael Thomas Bas ...

National Union of Seamen The National Union of Seamen (NUS) was the principal trade union of merchant seafarers in the United Kingdom from the late 1880s to 1990. In 1990, the union amalgamated with the National Union of Railwaymen to form the National Union of Rail, ...

National Union of Sheet Metal Workers and Braziers National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

National Union of Sheet Metal Workers, Coppersmiths, Heating and Domestic Engineers National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

National Union of Teachers The National Union of Teachers (NUT; ) was a trade union for school teachers in Education in England, England, Education in Wales, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. It was a member of the Trades Union Congress. In March 2017, NU ...

National Union of Vehicle Builders The National Union of Vehicle Builders (NUVB) was a trade union in the United Kingdom. The NUVB represented a mixture of skilled and unskilled workers in the automotive industry. History The union was formed in 1834 as the United Kingdom Societ ...

/ United Kingdom Society of Coachmakers * National Union of Wallcoverings, Decorative and Allied Trades / Wallpaper Workers' Union *

Operative Bricklayers' Society The Operative Bricklayers' Society (OBS) was a UK, British New Model Trade Union based in London. History The society was founded in 1818 as the London Bricklayers' Society, but by 1829 had developed into a national operative union. By the 18 ...

Plumbing Trades Union The Plumbing Trades Union (PTU) was a trade union representing plumbers in United Kingdom, Britain and Ireland. History The union was founded in 1865, when the Manchester Plumbers' Society and the Liverpool Plumbers' Society merged with sma ...

/ United Operative Plumbers' Association *

Postmen's Federation The Postmen's Federation was a trade union representing postal workers in the United Kingdom. In 1889, a "Postmen's Union" was founded in Clerkenwell by Tom Dredge and John Lincoln Mahon. This dissolved after many of its members were sacked, but ...

* Post Office Controlling Officers' Association *

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 ...

* Printing Machine Managers' Trade Society *

Prospect Prospect may refer to: General * Prospect (marketing), a marketing term describing a potential customer * Prospect (sports), any player whose rights are owned by a professional team, but who has yet to play a game for the team * Prospect (minin ...

Prudential Staff Union The Prudential Staff Union was a trade union representing workers at the Prudential insurance company, in the United Kingdom. The only union of insurance workers to affiliate to the Labour Party, it was briefly represented on its National Ex ...

* Royal London Staff Association * Scottish Sheet-Metal Workers' and Braziers' Friendly and Protective Society * Sign and Display Trade Union / National Union of Sign, Glass and Ticket Writers and Kindred Trades * Society of Chiropodists * Society of Civil and Public Servants / Society of Civil Servants *

Society of Graphical and Allied Trades The Society of Graphical and Allied Trades (SOGAT) was a British trade union in the printing industry. History SOGAT was formed in 1966 by the National Union of Printing, Bookbinding and Paper Workers and the National Society of Operative Pr ...

(SOGAT) *

Society of Lithographic Artists, Designers, Engravers and Process Workers The Society of Lithographic Artists, Designers and Engravers (SLADE) was a Trade unions in the United Kingdom, British trade union representing workers in the printing industry. History The union was formed in Manchester in 1885 as the Nationa ...

(SLADE) *

Society of Radiographers The Society of Radiographers (SoR) is a professional body and trade union that represents more than 90 percent of the diagnostic and therapeutic radiographers in the United Kingdom. The College of Radiographers (CoR) is a charitable subsidiary ...

* Society of Telecommunication Engineers / Society of Post Office Engineering Inspectors *

Steel Industry Management Association Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high elastic modulus, yield strength, fracture strength and low raw material cost, steel is one of the m ...

* Tobacco Workers' Union * Training College Association *

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 ...

Transport Salaried Staffs' Association The Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA) is a trade union for workers in the transport and travel industries in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Its head office is in London, and it has regional offices in Bristol, ...

/ Railway Clerks' Association *

Typographical Association The Typographical Association (TA) was a trade union representing typographers in the United Kingdom and Ireland. History The National Typographical Association collapsed in 1848, and delegates from across Yorkshire and Lancashire met at Ange ...

* Union of Bookmakers' Employees * Union of Communication Workers /

Union of Post Office Workers The Union of Communication Workers (UCW) was a trade union in the United Kingdom for workers in the post office and telecommunications industries. History The union was founded in 1919 as the Union of Post Office Workers (UPW) by the merger ...

Unison Unison (stylised as UNISON) is a Great Britain, British trade union. Along with Unite the Union, Unite, Unison is one of the two largest trade unions in the United Kingdom, with over 1.2 million members who work predominantly in public servic ...

* Unite * United Commercial Travellers' Association * United Kingdom Association of Professional Engineers *

United Patternmakers' Association The United Patternmakers Association (UPA) was a trade union in the United Kingdom. History The association was founded in 1872 to represent skilled patternmakers in England, following a strike by patternmakers along the River Tyne and River Wea ...

United Society of Boilermakers, Shipbuilders and Structural Workers The Amalgamated Society of Boilermakers, Shipwrights, Blacksmiths and Structural Workers (ASB) was a trade union in the United Kingdom. Many of its members worked in shipbuilding, in which industry it was the leading trade union, while over tim ...

/ United Society of Boilermakers and Iron Shipbuilders *

Wallpaper Trades Superannuation Society Wallpaper is used in interior decoration to cover the interior walls of domestic and public buildings. It is usually sold in rolls and is applied onto a wall using wallpaper paste. Wallpapers can come plain as "lining paper" to help cover uneve ...

Workers' 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 ...

Significant collections relating to trade union federations include the Confederation of Employee Organisations, the

Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions The Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions (CSEU), often known as the Confed is a trade union confederation in the United Kingdom. History The confederation was founded in December 1890 as the Federation of Engineering and Shipbuil ...

, the Council of Civil Service Unions, the Federation of Post Office Supervising Officers, the General Federation of Trade Unions, the National Federation of Construction Unions (formerly the National Federation of Building Trade Operatives), the National Federation of Professional Workers, the National Joint Committee of Postal and Telegraph Associations, the Post Office Engineering Federation, and the

Printing and Kindred Trades Federation The Printing and Kindred Trades Federation (P&KTF) was a trade union federation in the United Kingdom. History The federation was established at a conference in Manchester on 8 September 1890, organised on the initiative of George D. Kelley. The ...

. International trade union federations are represented by major collections of the

International Transport Workers' Federation The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) is a democratic global union federation of transport workers' trade unions, founded in 1896. In 2017 the ITF had 677 member organizations in 149 countries, representing a combined membership o ...

and the

World Federation of Scientific Workers The World Federation of Scientific Workers (WFSW) is an international federation of scientific associations. It is an NGO in official partnership with Unesco. Its goal is to be involved internationally in all aspects of the role of science, the ...

. Collections relating to joint trade union committees include those of the Alcan Foils Wembley Factory trade union committees, the

British Leyland British Leyland was a British automotive engineering and manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate formed in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It wa ...

Trade Union Committee, Coventry Chain Shop Stewards' Committee, Coventry

Trades Council A labour council, trades council or industrial council is an association of trade union, labour unions or local union, union branches in a given area. Most commonly, they represent unions in a given geographical area, whether at the district, city, ...

, the GCHQ Trade Union Campaign Committee, and the London Transport Aldenham Bus Overhaul Works trade union committees. The centre also holds significant collections relating to leaders of trade unions, including: *

Ernest Bevin Ernest Bevin (9 March 1881 – 14 April 1951) was a British statesman, trade union leader and Labour Party politician. He co-founded and served as General Secretary of the powerful Transport and General Workers' Union from 1922 to 1940 and ...

, general secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union, Minister of Labour and Foreign Secretary *

Rodney Bickerstaffe Rodney Kevan Bickerstaffe (6 April 1945 – 3 October 2017) was a British trade unionist. He was General Secretary of the National Union of Public Employees (1982–1993) and UNISON (1996–2001), Britain's largest trade union at the time. He l ...

, general secretary of NUPE and Unison * Frank Chapple, Baron Chapple of Hoxton, general secretary of the Electrical Trades Union and Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunication and Plumbing Union *

Percy Collick Percy Henry Collick (16 November 1897 – 24 July 1984) was a British Labour Party politician and trade union official. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Birkenhead West from 1945 to 1950, when the seat was abolished in boundary chan ...

, assistant general secretary of ASLEF and Labour MP *

Frank Cousins Frank Cousins may refer to: * Frank Cousins (British politician) (1904–1986), British trade union leader and Labour politician * Frank Cousins (American politician) (born 1958), American politician who served as the Essex County, Massachusetts ...

, general secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union and Minister of Technology * Frank Crump, general secretary of the National Amalgamated Union of Life Assurance Workers * Brenda Dean, Baroness Dean of Thornton-le-Fylde, general secretary of SOGAT '82 * R. A. W. Emerick, general secretary of the Amalgamated Society of Lithographic Printers * Alan Fisher, general secretary of NUPE * Sir Joseph Hallsworth, general secretary of the Amalgamated Union of Co-operative Employees, National Union of Distributive and Allied Workers, and Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers *

Clive Jenkins David Clive Jenkins (2 May 1926 – 22 September 1999) was a British trade union leader. "Organising the middle classes", his stated recreation in ''Who's Who'', sums up both his sense of humour and his achievements in the British trade union m ...

, general secretary of ASSET, ASTMS and the MSF * Jack Jones, general secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union *

Bill Morris, Baron Morris of Handsworth William Manuel Morris, Baron Morris of Handsworth (born 19 October 1938) is a former British trade union leader. He was General Secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union from 1992 to 2003, and the first black leader of a major Briti ...

, general secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union * Ron Todd, general secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union * Paul Tofahrn, assistant general secretary of the International Transport Workers' Federation and general secretary of Public Services International *

Bob Willis Robert George Dylan Willis (born 30 May 1949 – 4 December 2019) was an English cricketer, who represented England between 1971 and 1984. A right-handed fast bowler, Willis is regarded by many as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all tim ...

, general secretary of the London Society of Compositors, London Typographical Society, and National Graphical Association *

George Woodcock George Woodcock (May 8, 1912 – January 28, 1995) was a Canadian writer of political biography and history, an anarchist thinker, a philosopher, an essayist and literary critic. He was also a poet and published several volumes of travel wri ...

, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress Large collections of papers of more junior trade unionists include: *Jon Appleton, of NALGO and Unison *Alfred Best, of the National Amalgamated Union of Life Assurance Workers *Cyril Collard, of the Association of Teachers in Technical Institutions *John Dore, of the Association of Scientific Workers, ASTMS and the MSF *David and Tamar Edwards, of the Amalgamated Engineering Union and the Transport and General Workers' Union respectively *Dick Etheridge, of the Amalgamated Engineering Union *R. Leonard Fagg, of the Post Office Engineering Union *Monty Hughes, of the Iron and Steel Trades Confederation *Norman Jacobs, of the Civil and Public Services Association *J. C. McLauchlan, of the Institution of Professional Civil Servants *David Michaelson, of the Amalgamated Engineering Union *Peter Morgan, of NALGO *Peter Nicholas, of the Amalgamated Engineering Union *Aaron Rapoport Rollin, of the National Union of Tailors and Garment Workers *William Henry Stokes, of the Amalgamated Engineering Union *

Alan Thornett Alan Thornett (born 15 June 1937) is a British Trotskyist. Alan Thornett began his career as a car worker in Plant Oxford, Cowley, Oxford in 1959. He joined the Communist Party of Great Britain there in 1960 before being recruited with other ...

, of the Transport and General Workers' Union *Arthur Willitt, of the Post Office Engineering Union, Society of Post Office Engineering Inspectors, Society of the Post-Office Engineering Inspectorate, Society of Telecommunication Engineers, Association of Post Office Executives, and Society of Post Office Executives *Amicia Young, of the Association of Scientific Workers

Industrial relations

The Modern Records Centre holds some collections of archives relating to joint employer/employee industrial relations negotiating committees. Significant among these are the Inland Revenue Departmental Whitley Council, the Joint Industry Board for the Electrical Contracting Industry, the Local Authorities' Conditions of Service Advisory Board (LACSAB), the National Joint Council for the Engineering Construction Industry, the National Maritime Board, and the National Whitley Council for the Civil Service. Papers of various academics and/or conciliators concerned with industrial relations include those of Sir George Bain, William Brown,

Colleen Chesterman Colleen is an English-language name of Irish origin. It derives from the Irish word "girl/woman", the diminutive of "woman, countrywoman". Although it derives from the Irish language, Colleen as a given name is rare in Ireland, but far more ...

, Hugh Clegg, Bob Fryer,

Geoffrey Goodman Geoffrey George Goodman (2 July 1922 – 5 September 2013)Mike Molloy"Obituary: Geoffrey Goodman" theguardian.com, 6 September 2013. was a British journalist, broadcaster and writer. Following periods on the ''News Chronicle'' and the '' Daily He ...

, Richard Hyman, Grigor McClelland, Arthur Marsh, Sir Jack Scamp, and Bert Turner. Archives of the British Universities Industrial Relations Association,

Incomes Data Services Incomes Data Services (IDS) was a British research organisation dedicated to employment-related areas. Acquired by Thomson Reuters in September 2005, it was dedicated to providing original research, analysis and training on pay benchmarking, pay ...

and Industrial Relations Research Unit are also held.

Employers' and trade associations

The Modern Records Centre also collects archives of

employers' association An employers' organization or employers' association is a collective organization of manufacturers, retailers, or other employers of wage labor. Employers' organizations seek to coordinate the behavior of their member companies in matters of mutua ...

s and

trade association A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association, sector association or industry body, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific Industry (economics), industry. Through collabor ...

s. The largest of these are the archives of the

Confederation of British Industry The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) is a British business interest group, which says it represents 190,000 businesses. The CBI has been described by the ''Financial Times'' as "Britain's biggest business lobby group". Incorporated by roy ...

(CBI) and its predecessor, the

Federation of British Industries The Federation of British Industries (FBI) was an employers' association in the United Kingdom. History Founded by the Midlands industrialist Dudley Docker in 1916 as the United British Industries' Association, but renamed later that same year, ...

(FBI). Other major association employers' and trade association collections include: * Apparel and Fashion Industry Association *

Association of Professional Recording Services The Association of Professional Recording Services (APRS) is a trade association for the audio industry in the United Kingdom. Overview The APRS is present within the British audio industry and lobbies on behalf of their members for a positive ...

* Biscuit, Cake, Chocolate and Confectionery Alliance * Brewers' Society *

British Electrotechnical and Allied Manufacturers' Association 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 cultur ...

* British Employers' Confederation / National Confederation of Employers' Organisations * British Independent Steel Producers' Association * British Iron and Steel Consumers' Council *

British Iron and Steel Federation The British Iron and Steel Federation (BISF), formed in 1934, was an organisation of British iron and steel producers responsible for the national planning of steel production. Its creation was imposed on the industry by Ramsay MacDonald's Nation ...

* Chamber of Shipping * Coventry and District Engineering Employers' Association * Cycle and Motor Cycle Association / Cycle and Motor Cycle Manufacturers' and Traders' Union *

Engineering Employers' East Midlands Association Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve systems. Modern engineering comprises many subfi ...

* Engineering Employers' Federation /

Engineering and Allied Employers' National Federation Make UK, formerly the Engineering Employers' Federation, represents manufacturers in the United Kingdom. Purpose Make UK provides businesses with advice, guidance and support in employment law, employee relations, health, safety, climate and envi ...

* Engineering Employers' West Midlands Association *

Iron and Steel Trades Employers' Association Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's out ...

* Knitting Industries' Federation * National Association of British Manufacturers * National Engineering Construction Employers' Association * National Federation of Building Trades Employers / Association of Master Builders *

National Industrial Organisation National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

* Oil and Chemical Plant Constructors' Association * Refractory Users' Federation *

Road Haulage Association The Road Haulage Association Ltd (RHA) is a private company limited by guarantee dedicated to the interests of the road haulage industry. It is the only trade association in the United Kingdom dedicated solely to road haulage. As a trade associ ...

* Scottish Steel Makers' Association * Shipping Federation * Shirt, Collar and Tie Manufacturers' Federation * Society of British Gas Industries * Tea Council of Great Britain * UK Fashion and Textile Association * Wholesale Clothing Manufacturers' Federation Archives of related organisations include those of the

Dollar Exports Council Dollar is the name of more than 25 currencies. The United States dollar, named after the international currency known as the Spanish dollar, was established in 1792 and is the first so named that still survives. Others include the Australian d ...

, India, Pakistan and Burma Association, Iron and Steel Board and Trade Board (Employers') Consultative Council, as well as those of Richard Wood, an official of the Construction Industry Training Board and the National Federation of Building Trades Employers.

Pressure and campaigning groups

A second part of the Modern Records Centre's collecting base is the archives of pressure and campaigning groups. Significant among these are the archives of the: *

All Britain Anti-Poll Tax Federation The All Britain Anti-Poll Tax Federation (ABAPTF), commonly known as "the Fed", was an organisation in Great Britain to co-ordinate the activities of local Anti-Poll Tax Unions (APTUs) campaigning against the Poll tax (Great Britain), Poll tax (o ...

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

Anti-Nazi League The Anti-Nazi League (ANL) was an organisation set up in 1977 on the initiative of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) with sponsorship from some trade unions and the endorsement of a list of prominent people to oppose the rise of far-right g ...

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is an organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nucl ...

(CND) * Campaign for the Advancement of State Education * Christian Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament * Council for Educational Advance * Economic League * Family Service Units *

Howard League for Penal Reform The Howard League for Penal Reform is a registered charity in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest penal reform organisation in the world, named after John Howard. It was founded as the Howard Association in 1866 and changed its name in 1921 ...

Industrial Society In sociology, an industrial society is a society driven by the use of technology and machinery to enable mass production, supporting a large population with a high capacity for division of labour. Such a structure developed in the Western world ...

Industrial Welfare Society The Work Foundation is a British not-for-profit organisation and independent authority providing advice, consultancy and research on the future of work, improving the quality of working life, leadership, economic and organisational effectiveness. ...

* Involvement and Participation Association / Industrial Co-partnership Association / Labour Co-partnership Association *

Make Poverty History Make Poverty History were organizations in a number of countries, which focused on issues relating to 8th Millennium Development Goal such as aid, trade and justice. They generally formed a coalition of aid and development agencies which worked ...

* National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders (NACRO) / National Association of Discharged Prisoners' Aid Societies * National Federation of the Blind of the United Kingdom * National Postgraduate Committee * National Union of Students *

Release Release may refer to: * Art release, the public distribution of an artistic production, such as a film, album, or song * Legal release, a legal instrument * News release, a communication directed at the news media * Release (ISUP), a code to i ...

* West Midlands Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament *

World University Service The World university Service (WUS) is an international organisation founded in 1920 in Vienna as an offshoot of the World Student Christian Federation to meet the needs of students and academics in the aftermath of World War I World War ...

Papers of individuals associated with campaigning and pressure groups include those of Marjory Allen, Lady Allen of Hurtwood, landscape architect, campaigner for pre-school education and child welfare,

Sir Ernest Benn Sir Ernest John Pickstone Benn, 2nd Baronet, (25 June 1875 – 17 January 1954) was a British publisher, writer and political publicist. His father, John Benn, was a Liberal politician, who had been made a baronet in 1914. He was brother of t ...

, publisher, libertarian and individualist, Mary Brennan, peace activist and prominent member of CND, William Driscoll, chief training officer of the Economic League, Sir Victor Gollancz, publisher and activist, Sir Leslie Scott, Conservative MP, judge and prominent member of the Council for the Preservation of Rural England, and Dame Eileen Younghusband, social worker.

Business

The Modern Records Centre holds some archives relating to business, especially the motor industry. Archives relating to the motor industry include

Jensen Motors Jensen Motors Limited was a England, British manufacturer of sports cars and commercial vehicles in West Bromwich, England. Brothers Alan and Richard Jensen gave the new name, Jensen Motors Limited, to the commercial- and sports car body-making ...

, the

Rover Company The Rover Company Limited was a British car manufacturing company originally founded in 1878, beginning car manufacturing in 1904. It primarily operated from its base in Solihull, Warwickshire. Rover also manufactured the Land Rover series from ...

Rubery Owen Rubery Owen is a British engineering company which was founded in 1884 in Darlaston, West Midlands. History In 1884 the company was started by John Tunner Rubery (1849–1920) and his two brothers (Samuel 1844–1910 and Thomas William 1856–1 ...

, the

Standard Motor Company The Standard Motor Company Limited was a motor vehicle manufacturer, founded in Coventry, England, in 1903 by Reginald Walter Maudslay. For many years, it manufactured Ferguson TE20 tractors powered by its Vanguard engine. All Standard's tracto ...

, and the Triumph Engineering Company. Archives relating to other firms include

Birmingham Small Arms The Birmingham Small Arms Company Limited (BSA) was a major British industrial combine, a group of businesses manufacturing military and sporting firearms; bicycles; motorcycles; cars; buses and bodies; steel; iron castings; hand, power, and m ...

, the

British Steel Corporation 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 cultur ...

Victor Gollancz Ltd Victor Gollancz Ltd () was a major British book publishing house of the twentieth century and continues to publish science fiction and fantasy titles as an imprint of Orion Publishing Group. Gollancz was founded in 1927 by Victor Gollancz, an ...

, Wallpaper Manufacturers Ltd, and J. Parnell & Son Ltd, builders, of Rugby. The centre also holds the archives of the Transport Development Group and of

Arthur Primrose Young Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...

, manager of the Rugby works of the

British Thomson-Houston Company British Thomson-Houston (BTH) was a British engineering and heavy industrial company, based at Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Originally founded to sell products from the Thomson-Houston Electric Company, it soon became a manufacturer using li ...

Professional associations

The Modern Records Centre holds a growing collection of the archives of professional associations, especially those associated with social work. Major collections in the latter area include the Association of Child Care Officers, the Association of Social Workers, the

British Association of Social Workers The British Association of Social Workers (BASW) is the largest professional association of registered social workers in the United Kingdom. The association has a members' code of ethics that outlines best social work practice and works to support ...

, the Institute of Medical Social Workers, the National Association of Social Workers in Education, and the National Institute for Social Work. Other professional associations with significant representation are the Association of Teachers of Domestic Science, the British Association for Commercial and Industrial Education, the

British Institute of Management The Chartered Management Institute (CMI) is a professional institution for management based in the United Kingdom. It was founded as the British Institute of Management (BIM) in 1947 or 1948, merged with the Institution of Industrial Managers (I ...

, the

Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC), formerly known as the Headmasters' Conference and now branded HMC (The Heads' Conference), is an association of the head teachers of 351 private fee-charging schools (both boarding schools ...

, the

Institute of Administrative Management The Institute of Administrative Management (IAM) is an awarding organisation and professional body for practising and aspiring administrative and business managers. It supports students and members across 58 countries worldwide. Topics Adminis ...

, the

Institute of Management Services An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

, and the Institute of Personnel Management.

Politics

One of the collecting specialities of the Modern Records Centre is

Trotskyist Trotskyism (, ) is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International. Trotsky described himself as an ...

politics. Significant collections of papers relating to Trotskyist organisations include Bookmarks Publications, the

International Marxist Group The International Marxist Group (IMG) was a Trotskyist group in Britain between 1968 and 1982. It was the British Section of the Fourth International. It had around 1,000 members and supporters in the late 1970s. In 1980, it had 682 members; by ...

, the International Socialism Group, the

Militant tendency The Militant tendency, or Militant, was a Trotskyist group in the British Labour Party, organised around the ''Militant'' newspaper, which launched in 1964. In 1975, there was widespread press coverage of a Labour Party report on the infiltrat ...

, the Revolutionary Socialist League, the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

, Socialist Reproduction, the Socialist Vanguard Group, and the

Spartacist League The Spartacus League () was a Marxist revolutionary movement organized in Germany during World War I. It was founded in August 1914 as the International Group by Rosa Luxemburg, Karl Liebknecht, Clara Zetkin, and other members of the Social De ...

. Papers of individuals associated with Trotskyist organisations include those of

Chris Bambery Chris Bambery is a Scottish political activist, socialist, author, journalist, TV presenter and producer, most recently with the Islam Channel where he hosts their current affairs programme ''The Report''. Prior to the 2017 UK General Electi ...

, Colin Barker, Alan Clinton,

Jimmy Deane Jimmy Deane (31 January 1921 – 21 August 2002) was a British Trotskyist who played a significant role in building the Revolutionary Socialist League. Along with Jock Haston and Ted Grant, he played a role during the Second World War in the ...

, Reg Groves, Alistair Mutch, Geoff Pugh, Bob Purdie, Tony Whelan, and Harry Wicks. The centre also holds the papers of several Labour Members of Parliament:

Richard Crossman Richard Howard Stafford Crossman (15 December 1907 – 5 April 1974) was a British Labour Party politician. A university classics lecturer by profession, he was elected a Member of Parliament in 1945 and became a significant figure among the ...

Maurice Edelman Israel Maurice Edelman (2 March 1911 – 14 December 1975) was a British Labour Party politician, journalist, and novelist from Wales who represented Coventry constituencies in the House of Commons for over 30 years, from 1945 until his death. ...

Terry Fields Terence Fields (8 March 1937 – 28 June 2008) was a British politician and firefighter. A member of the Militant group, he was the Labour Member of Parliament for Liverpool Broadgreen from 1983 to 1992. He was expelled from the Labour Party ...

, William Hamling,

Pat Wall Charles Patrick Wall (6 May 1933 – 6 August 1990) was an English Trotskyist political activist who was the Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP) for Bradford North from 1987 until his death. Wall was a long-standing member of the Mi ...

, and William Wilson. Other political holdings include the papers of former general secretary of the Labour Party

Jim Mortimer James Edward Mortimer (12 January 1921 – 23 April 2013) was a British trade unionist and the Labour Party General Secretary between 1982 and 1985.

, Conservative MP

Derek Coombs Derek Michael Coombs (12 August 1931 – 30 December 2014) was a British Conservative politician. He was Member of Parliament for Birmingham Yardley from 1970 to 1974, he won a marginal seat which was later recovered by Labour's Sydney Tiern ...

, National Front activist Wayne Ashcroft, and the Warwick and Leamington Constituency Labour Party.

Education

A further specialisation of the Modern Records Centre is in archives concerned with education. As well as the archives of the teachers' trade unions, the Centre holds significant archive collections of the Association of Technical Institutions, the Committee of Directors of Polytechnics, the

Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

, the

Council for National Academic Awards The Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA) was the national degree-awarding authority in the United Kingdom from 1965 until its dissolution on 20 April 1993. Background The establishment followed the recommendation of the UK government Com ...

, the Joint University Council for Social Studies, the

National Council for Diplomas in Art and Design The National Council for Diplomas in Art and Design was a UK statutory body responsible for awarding Diplomas in Art and Design undertaken in further education colleges. It operated from 1961 to 1974 when its responsibilities were merged into the ...

, the National Council for Technological Awards, REPLAN, the Society for Research into Higher Education, and the Universities Association for Lifelong Learning.

Cycling

The Modern Records Centre holds the National Cycle Archive, the principal archive covering all aspects of cycling history in the United Kingdom. This includes the archives of the

Auto-Cycle Union The Auto-Cycle Union (ACU) is the governing body of motorcycle sport in the British Isles, including the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, excluding Northern Ireland

, the

Cyclists' Touring Club Cycling UK is a trading name of the Cyclists' Touring Club (CTC), which is a charitable membership organisation supporting cyclists and promoting bicycle use. Cycling UK is registered at Companies House as "Cyclists’ Touring Club", and is c ...

, and the

National Cyclists' Union The National Cyclists' Union (NCU) was an association established in the Guildhall Tavern, London, on 16 February 1878 as the Bicycle Union. Its purpose was to defend cyclists and to organise and regulate bicycle racing in Great Britain. It merge ...

, as well as archives of many other cycling organisations and clubs, manufacturers of bicycles and accessories, and individuals connected with cycling, such as Eric Claxton, Tony Hadland,

Alex Josey Alexander Arthur Josey (3 April 1910 – 15 October 1986) was a British-Singaporean journalist, political writer and commentator, biographer, and during WWII and the Malayan Emergency, a propagandist. He is best known for his biographies on the ...

, Derek Roberts and Frank Rowland Whitt.

Operational research

A significant collection of material relating to

operational research Operations research () (U.S. Air Force Specialty Code: Operations Analysis), often shortened to the initialism OR, is a branch of applied mathematics that deals with the development and application of analytical methods to improve management and ...

includes the archives of the Operational Research Branches of

British Coal The British Coal Corporation was a nationalised corporation responsible for the mining of coal in the United Kingdom from 1987 until it was effectively dissolved in 1997. The corporation was created by renaming its predecessor, the National Co ...

and the

British Overseas Airways Corporation British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) was the United Kingdom, British state-owned national airline created in 1939 by the merger of Imperial Airways and British Airways Ltd. It continued operating overseas services throughout World War II ...

, the Department of Operational Research of the

, the Institute for Operational Research, the

International Federation of Operational Research Societies The International Federation of Operational Research Societies (IFORS) is an umbrella organization for national operations research societies of over 45 countries from four geographical regions: Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, and South Americ ...

, the Local Government Operational Research Unit, and the

Operational Research Society The Operational Research Society (ORS), also known as The OR Society, is an international learned society in the field of operational research (OR), with more than 3,100 members (2021). It has its headquarters in Birmingham, England. History The ...

, as well as the papers of prominent operational researchers Ken Bowen and

Stephen Cook Stephen Arthur Cook (born December 14, 1939) is an American-Canadian computer scientist and mathematician who has made significant contributions to the fields of complexity theory and proof complexity. He is a university professor emeritus at ...

University of Warwick

The Centre holds the organisational archives of the University of Warwick itself and also

Coventry College of Education Coventry College of Education existed as a separate institution until its incorporation into the University of Warwick in 1978 as the Westwood campus. It was located to the north of the university's main site. From 1948, the Principal of Coventr ...

, which amalgamated with it in 1971. It also holds the papers of some individuals connected with the university, notably the sociologists

Gillian Rose Gillian Rosemary Rose (née Stone; 20 September 1947 – 9 December 1995) was a British philosopher and writer. Rose held the chair of social and political thought at the University of Warwick until 1995. Rose began her teaching career at the ...

and Meg Stacey, and Sir Arthur Vick, who was the university's chairman of council and pro-chancellor.

Miscellaneous

Other significant collections include the

Bristol Unity Players' Club Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

, the

Certification Office for Trade Unions and Employers' Associations The Trades Union Certification Officer was established in the United Kingdom by the Employment Protection Act 1975. They head the Certification Office for Trade Unions and Employers' Associations. Responsibilities The Certification Officer is res ...

, the Commercial Vehicle and Road Transport Club, the

Low Pay Commission The Low Pay Commission (LPC) is an independent body in the United Kingdom, established in 1997, that advises the government on the National Minimum Wage. It is an advisory non-departmental public body of the Department for Business and Trade (DB ...

, the Royal Commission on Legal Services, the

Royal Commission on the National Health Service The Royal Commission on the National Health Service was a Royal commission set up by the Wilson government in 1975. It was to consider the "best use and management of the financial and manpower resources of the NHS". The Royal Commission reporte ...

, the Social Workers' Benevolent Trust, the

Social Workers' Educational Trust Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives fro ...

, the Society for the Study of Labour History, and the

Young Women's Christian Association The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swit ...

. Papers of individuals include those of management consultant John Goddard, Catherine Hoskyns, an expert on gender politics and the European Union, and Sir George Pope, general manager of ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

''.

External links

Modern Records Centre
{{Authority control University of Warwick Archives in the West Midlands (county) 1973 establishments in England British trade unions history