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.

APEX
Full nameAssociation of Professional, Executive, Clerical and Computer Staff
Founded1940
PredecessorAssociation of Women Clerks and Secretaries
National Union of Clerks
Date dissolved1989
Merged intoGMB
Members140,292 (1980[1])
JournalThe Clerk
AffiliationTUC, LMTU, Labour, FIET
Office location70 St George's Square, London
CountryUnited Kingdom

History

The Clerks Union was formed in 1890 and later was renamed as the National Union of Clerks. Then, following rapid growth and amalgamation with several other unions, the name was again changed to the National Union of Clerks and Administrative Workers (NUCAW) with a membership of around 40,000.

In 1940, NUCAW merged with the Association of Women Clerks and Secretaries (AWCS) to form the Clerical and Administrative Workers' Union (CAWU). The union organised in the white-collar sector in the City of London and across the country, and had particular success in recruiting in the engineering industry. In the 1960s its membership grew rapidly, but it was less successful in the 1970s, membership increasing by 18%, while that of its rival, the Association of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staffs (ASTMS), nearly doubled.[1]

The union changed its name to the Association of Professional, Executive, Clerical and Computer Staff (APEX) in 1972. It was the union at the centre of the Grunwick dispute in the 1970s.

APEX, like its predecessors, was an affiliated trade union of the British Labour Party and was a key influence on the right-wing of the Party, particularly as, until 1972, it enforced a rule preventing communists from holding positions in the union. Its relations with other unions were often difficult, as it competed not only with the ASTMS for members, but also with the National Union of Bank Employees and various general unions. In particular, a dispute over members at General Accident was referred to the Trades Union Congress Disputes Committee and the fall-out led to APEX's general secretary, Roy Grantham, failing to win re-election to the General Council of the TUC.[1]

In 1989 APEX merged with the GMB trade union and now exists as a section within the GMB.

Election results

The union sponsored numerous Labour Party candidates, many of whom were elected:

ElectionConstituencyCandidateVotesPercentagePosition
1922 general electionBathHerbert Elvin4,84917.83[2]
1945 general electionLiverpool EvertonBertie Kirby9,08865.41[3]
1950 general electionLiverpool West DerbyBertie Kirby25,41748.12[4]
Sheffield ParkFred Mulley30,55867.71[4]
1951 general electionSheffield ParkFred Mulley30,84269.21[5]
1955 general electionBirmingham All SaintsDenis Howell18,86751.81[6]
Sheffield ParkFred Mulley28,90473.21[6]
1959 general electionBirmingham All SaintsDenis Howell17,21550.02[7]
Sheffield ParkFred Mulley26,07871.11[7]
1961 by-electionBirmingham Small HeathDenis Howell12,18259.21[8]
1964 general electionBirmingham LadywoodVictor Yates10,09863.21[8]
Birmingham Small HeathDenis Howell17,01060.41[8]
Sheffield ParkFred Mulley24,19675.61[8]
1966 general electionBirmingham LadywoodVictor Yates8,89558.91[9]
Birmingham Small HeathDenis Howell18,07569.51[9]
DarlingtonEdward Fletcher23,90950.51[9]
Sheffield ParkFred Mulley24,55080.31[9]
1970 general electionBirmingham Small HeathDenis Howell13,79461.11[10]
DarlingtonEdward Fletcher23,20848.51[10]
Sheffield ParkFred Mulley23,30275.31[10]
Feb 1974 general electionBirmingham Small HeathDenis Howell19,31957.31[11]
DarlingtonEdward Fletcher20,54640.81[11]
Glasgow CraigtonBruce Millan18,05551.31[11]
GowerIfor Davies23,85652.91[11]
Hertford and StevenageShirley Williams30,34344.71[11]
Sheffield ParkFred Mulley31,27365.01[11]
Oct 1974 general electionBirmingham Small HeathDenis Howell19,70366.51[12]
DarlingtonEdward Fletcher21,33445.61[12]
Glasgow CraigtonBruce Millan16,95250.51[12]
GowerIfor Davies25,06757.31[12]
Hertford and StevenageShirley Williams29,54847.11[12]
Sheffield ParkFred Mulley30,05771.41[12]
1979 general electionBirmingham Small HeathDenis Howell17,73560.51[13]
DarlingtonEdward Fletcher22,56545.51[13]
Glasgow CraigtonBruce Millan19,95259.91[13]
GowerIfor Davies24,96353.21[13]
Hertford and StevenageShirley Williams30,44345.12[13]
Sheffield ParkFred Mulley27,48368.61[13]
1983 general electionAberavonJohn Morris23,74558.81[14]
Birmingham Small HeathDenis Howell22,87463.81[14]
Glasgow GovanBruce Millan20,37055.01[14]
1987 general electionAberavonJohn Morris27,12666.81
Birmingham Small HeathDenis Howell22,78766.31
Glasgow GovanBruce Millan24,07164.81

Leadership

General Secretaries
1890: W. Moritz
1890: W. M. Sutherland
Charles Dyer
1906: Herbert Henry Elvin
1941: Fred Woods
1956: Anne Godwin
1963: Henry Chapman
1971: Roy Grantham

Presidents
1890: Wallas
1890: J. W. E. Hale
1912: G. E. O'Dell
1914: R. J. W. Scott
1915: John Lindsley
1916: Charles Latham
1918: James McKinlay
1927: Hubert Hughes
1940: William Elger
1946: Bob Scouller
1951: Helene Walker
1961: David Currie
1972: Denis Howell
1983: Ken Smith

See also

References
  1. Jürgen Hoffman, Marcus Kahmann and Jeremy Waddington, A Comparison of the Trade Union Merger Process in Britain and Germany, p. 58.
  2. Hughes, Fred (1953). By Hand and Brain. London: Lawrence and Wishart.
  3. Labour Party, Report of the Forty-Fifth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 232–248.
  4. "List of Parliamentary Labour candidates and election results, February 23rd, 1950". Report of the Forty-Ninth Annual Conference of the Labour Party: 179–198. 1950.
  5. "List of Parliamentary Labour candidates and election results, 25th October, 1951". Report of the Fiftieth Annual Conference of the Labour Party: 184–203. 1951.
  6. Labour Party, Report of the Fifty-Fourth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 255–275.
  7. Labour Party, Report of the Fifty-Eighth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 179–201.
  8. Labour Party, Report of the Sixty-Third Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 158–180.
  9. Labour Party, Report of the Sixty-Fifth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 308–330.
  10. Labour Party, Report of the Sixty-Ninth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 289–312.
  11. Labour Party, Report of the Seventy-Third Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 371–390.
  12. Labour Party, Report of the Seventy-Third Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 391–411.
  13. Labour Party, Report of the Seventy-Eighth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 406–431.
  14. General Election Guide. BBC Data Publications. 1983. ISBN 094635815X.
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