The National Union of Tailors and Garment Workers (NUTGW) 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 ...
in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
.
History
The union was founded as the Tailors and Garment Workers' Union (T&GWU) in 1920 with the merger of the
Scottish Operative Tailors and Tailoresses' Association and the
United Garment Workers' Union. In 1932, it was joined by the
Amalgamated Society of Tailors and Tailoresses and renamed itself as the "National Union of Tailors and Garment Workers". In 1939 it absorbed the
United Ladies Tailors' Trade Union.
The NUTGW had 118,700 members in 1945, making it the tenth largest union in Britain.
It absorbed the Manchester-based
Waterproof Garment Workers' Trade Union
The Waterproof Garment Workers' Trade Union was a trade union representing workers involved in making waterproof clothing in the United Kingdom.
The union was founded in 1907 as the Waterproof Garment Makers' and Machinists' Trade Union. Based i ...
in 1972.
[
The NUTGW faced a long-term decline in membership over the second half of the 20th century as the number of workers employed in the British clothing industry shrunk. This was largely due to competition with foreign manufacturers. By 1990 membership had fallen to less than 70,000, from a peak of over 130,000 in 1950.][
]
Election results
The union sponsored a Labour Party Member of Parliament from 1958 until 1964.[ Labour Party, ''Report of the Fifty-Eighth Annual Conference of the Labour Party'', pp.179-201]
General Secretaries
:1920: Andrew Conley
:1948: Anne Loughlin
:1953: John E. Newton
:1969: Jack Macgougan
:1979: Alec Smith
References
External links
Catalogue of the NUTGW archives
held at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick
{{Authority control
Trade unions established in 1920
Trade unions disestablished in 1991
Defunct trade unions of the United Kingdom
Clothing industry trade unions
1920 establishments in the United Kingdom
GMB (trade union) amalgamations
Trade unions based in London