North East Lancashire Amalgamated Weavers' Association

From WikiProjectMed
Jump to navigation Jump to search

North East Lancashire Amalgamated Weavers' Association
Founded1858
Dissolved1903
Location
Members
8,185 (1870)
Key people
Thomas Birtwistle
AffiliationsTUC

The North East Lancashire Amalgamated Weavers' Association was a trade union federation of local weavers' unions in part of Lancashire in England, in the 19th century.

History

The federation was founded in 1858 as the East Lancashire Amalgamated Weavers' Friendly Association, with a membership of 4,645. It was organised by Thomas Birtwistle, who believed that a federation of the many local weavers' unions in the county would improve the workers' position in wage negotiations. Initially, the Over Darwen, Church, Accrington, Harwood, Padiham, Chorley and Haslingden unions joined; larger unions such as those in Burnley and Nelson did not, as they felt able to manage their own affairs.[1]

Birtwistle became the federation's first general secretary, and was felt to have succeeded in his limited remit. By the end of the 1860s, the Clitheroe, Enfield and Ramsbottom unions had also joined, taking membership over 8,000.[1] The Burnley and Nelson unions both collapsed in the 1860s; the association established branches in these towns in 1870, which grew rapidly and became independent affiliates in 1871.[1][2] [3]

Encouraged by its success, during the 1870s, the federation ran a major campaign for shorter hours. In 1878, it organised a strike against a 10% cut in wages; employers responded by locking out workers not already taking part, but the strike was lost after nine weeks. This led to a restructuring of the federation, which took the new name of the "North East Lancashire Amalgamated Weavers' Association" and began paying death benefits to members, and representing them in disputes relating to work stoppages, unfair treatment, fines and the breakdown of machinery.[1]

In 1884, Birtwistle founded the Northern Counties Amalgamated Association of Weavers, covering a broader area, and this soon eclipsed the North East Lancashire association, which became informally known as the First Amalgamation. Despite this, Birtwistle remained secretary until 1892, when he retired. At this point, most of the affiliates left, but the federation was not dissolved until 1903.[1]

Affiliates

As of 1884, the association's affiliates were:[1]

Union Founded[4] Affiliated[1]
Accrington 1858 1863
Bamber Bridge 1884 1884
Burnley 1870 1871
Chorley 1855 1858
Church and Oswaldtwistle 1858 1858
Clayton-le-Moors 1858 1866
Clitheroe 1870 1870
Colne 1879 1880
Great Harwood and Billington 1858 1858
Haslingden 1858 1858
Nelson 1870 1871
Padiham 1856 1858
Ramsbottom 1857 1860s
Rishton 1878 1878

General Secretaries

1861: Thomas Birtwistle
1892: E. J. Holmes
1896: A. H. Cottam

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Edwin Hopwood, A History of the Lancashire Cotton Industry and the Amalgamated Weavers' Association, pp.47-52
  2. ^ Marsh, Arthur; Ryan, Victoria; Smethurst, John B. (1994). Historical Directory of Trade Unions. Vol. 4. Farnham: Ashgate. pp. 102–103. ISBN 9780859679008.
  3. ^ Fowler, Alan; Fowler, Lesley (n.d.). The History of the Nelson Weavers' Association. Manchester: Manchester Free Press.
  4. ^ Arthur Marsh, Victoria Ryan and John B. Smethurst, Historical Directory of Trade Unions, vol.5, pp.91-124
Retrieved from "https://mdwiki.org/wiki/North_East_Lancashire_Amalgamated_Weavers%27_Association"