The National Amalgamated Union of Labour (NAUL) was a

general union A general union is a trade union (called ''labor union'' in American English) which represents workers from all industries and companies, rather than just one organisation or a particular sector, as in a craft union or industrial union. A gen ...

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

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 ...

was founded in Feb 1889 as the United Tyne and District Labourers Association and in March 1889 the Amalgamated Society of Shipyard Helpers and General Labourers of the River Wear merged with it. By 1890 the union was recruiting heavily in the London, Belfast and Barrow areas and absorbed the Sheffield and District Navvies and General Labourers Society and changed its name to the Tyneside and National Labour Union of Great Britain and Ireland. The Annual Delegate Meeting of 1892 voted to change its name to the National Amalgamated Union of Labour. By 1897, it claimed 22,397 members, making it the fourth-largest union in the UK. It affiliated to 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 ...

in 1912.Arthur Ivor Marsh, ''Historical Directory of Trade Unions'', p.475National Amalgamated Union of Labour Annual Reports While the union accepted all workers, most of its members were involved in shipbuilding, ship repair, and engineering. In North East England, it also represented the majority of dockers, and many iron and steel workers, while in South Yorkshire, it represented most surface workers at coal mines. In London, it represented many cement workers, and around the country it had a significant number of chemical workers, builders' labourers and tramway maintenance workers. Following mergers with a large number of small trade unions, including the London and Counties Labour League, by 1919, the union had 148,000 members spread across the UK and was led by Joseph N. Bell. He formed the National Amalgamated Workers Union as a loose confederation with the

Municipal Employees Association The Municipal Employees' Association was a trade union representing local government workers in the United Kingdom. The union was founded in 1888 as the London County Council Employees' Protection Association, to represent workers at the London ...

(MEA) and the Workers Union, but this dissolved in 1922, shortly before Bell's death. Membership peaked at 170,000 in 1920, but then dropped rapidly, falling to only 53,000 by 1924. Women were initially not permitted to join the union, but this policy was changed, and by 1921 it had 25,000 women members, but this fell dramatically to only 2,000 in 1924. In 1924, the union merged with the National Union of General Workers and the MEA to form the

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 ...

. Of the union's former delegates, Spence became Assistant General Secretary of the new union, while Alfred James Bailey, Sam Bradley and Tom Williamson became district secretaries.

Election results

From 1914 to 1922, the union sponsored several candidates in Parliamentary elections:

Leadership

General secretaries

:1888: William Stanley :1891: Alfred T. Dipper :1898: J. N. Bell :1923: Ralph Spence

Corresponding secretaries

:1888: J. N. Bell :1898: Ralph Spence :1923: ''Post vacant''

References

1888 establishments in the United Kingdom Trade unions disestablished in 1924 Defunct trade unions of the United Kingdom GMB (trade union) amalgamations Trade unions established in 1888 Trade unions based in Tyne and Wear {{UK-trade-union-stub