United Patternmakers' Association

The United Patternmakers Association (UPA) was a trade union in the United Kingdom.

United Patternmakers' Association
Founded1872
Date dissolved1984
Merged intoAmalgamated Union of Engineering Workers-Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section
Members6,842 (1907[1])
9,571 (1980)[2]
JournalPatternmaker
AffiliationTUC, CSEU, LMTU, Labour
Key peopleGeorge Buchanan
Office location15 Cleve Road, West Hampstead
CountryUnited Kingdom

History

The association was founded in 1872 to represent skilled patternmakers in England,[3] following a strike by patternmakers along the River Tyne and River Wear for a nine-hour day.[4] Originally based in London, it transferred its headquarters to Manchester in 1896, to Leeds in 1903, then to Eccles in 1908, returning to London in 1912.[5]

The Associated Patternmakers of Scotland union merged into the UPA in 1912.[5] In 1918, the union balloted its members on joining the new Amalgamated Engineering Union, but this was not approved.[6]

During the 1930s, George Buchanan was the union's president, and the union focussed considerable attention on anti-fascist activity. It was initially sympathetic to the Independent Labour Party's split from the Labour Party, although by 1935 Buchanan's union backing was withdrawn.[7] It retained a strong craft unionist approach, and resisted the prevailing trend of admitting workers in allied trades.[8]

In 1969, the union renamed itself the Association of Patternmakers and Allied Craftsmen.[4] By 1979, its membership stood just under 10,000, mostly in the English Midlands. Only three members were women.[3] In 1984, it merged into the Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section.[5]

Election results

The union sponsored candidates in numerous Parliamentary elections between 1909 and 1974, most of whom were elected. Almost all ran as Labour Party candidates, the exception being Buchanan in 1931 who was refused Labour Party endorsement, and instead stood for the Independent Labour Party. He ran for that party again in 1935, on this occasion without official backing from the union, although it did set up a voluntary fund for his support, to which members could choose to donate. By 1945, he had returned to the Labour Party.[9]

ElectionConstituencyCandidateVotesPercentagePosition
1909 by-electionSheffield AttercliffeJoseph Pointer3,53127.51
1910 Jan general electionSheffield AttercliffeJoseph Pointer7,75556.11
1910 Dec general electionSheffield AttercliffeJoseph Pointer6,53255.01
1922 general electionGlasgow GorbalsGeorge Buchanan16,47854.51
1923 general electionGlasgow GorbalsGeorge Buchanan17,21167.21
1924 general electionGlasgow GorbalsGeorge Buchanan19,48065.91
1929 general electionGlasgow GorbalsGeorge Buchanan25,13474.81
1931 general electionGlasgow GorbalsGeorge Buchanan19,27858.11
StokeEllis Smith13,26430.32
1935 general electionStokeEllis Smith20,99252.71
1945 general electionGlasgow GorbalsGeorge Buchanan21,07380.01
StokeEllis Smith29,55169.11
1950 general electionStoke-on-Trent SouthEllis Smith34,33964.51
1951 general electionStoke-on-Trent SouthEllis Smith35,26165.81
1955 general electionStoke-on-Trent SouthEllis Smith31,00363.61
1959 general electionStoke-on-Trent SouthEllis Smith29,57859.31
1964 general electionStoke-on-Trent SouthEllis Smith28,92860.61
1974 Feb general electionStretfordKenneth Anthony19,64135.22

Officials

General Secretaries
1872: R. C. Douglas[10]
1872: R. Reay[10]
1884: William Mosses[10]
1917: Alan Findlay[10]
1941: Wilfred Beard
1967: Samuel McLaren
1969: Gerry Eastwood

Presidents
1872: N. Charlton[10]
1876: C. Mothersdale[10]
1880: S. T. Taylor[10]
1884: R. Brown[10]
1884: T. Souter[10]
1885: John Livingston[10]
1888: George E. Wilson[10]
1891: Thomas Goodall[10]
1892: Joseph W. Field[10]
1893: Joseph Taylor[10]
1894: William Williams[10]
1895: Fred W. Kent[10]
1896: John Mills[10]
1897: Ed Appleby[10]
1899: J. M. Whittaker[10]
1900: Thomas Battison[10]
1901: J. M. Whittaker[10]
1902: A. Mackenzie[10]
1903: Arthur Pearson[10]
1909: John Mills[10]
1913: Albert E. Wardale[11]
1932: George Buchanan
1946: Ellis Smith
1966: Victor MacDonald
1977:

References
  1. Report on Trade Unions in 1905-1907. London: Board of Trade. 1909. p. 82-101.
  2. Eaton, Jack; Gill, Colin (1981). The Trade Union Directory. London: Pluto Press. pp. 101–102. ISBN 0861043502.
  3. Arthur Ivor Marsh, Trade Union Handbook, p.260
  4. Arthur Ivor Marsh, Concise Encyclopedia of Industrial Relations, p.224
  5. John B. Smethurst and Alan Carter, Historical Directory of Trade Unions, Volume 6, pp.204-205
  6. Jefferys, James B. (1970). The Story of the Engineers. Edinburgh: Reprints in Social and Economic History. p. 193.
  7. Matthew Worley, Labour's Grass Roots, p.61
  8. Hugh Armstrong Clegg, Trade Union Officers, p.16
  9. Parker, James (2017). Trade unions and the political culture of the Labour Party, 1931-1940 (PDF). Exeter: University of Exeter. p. 125.
  10. Mosses, William (1922). The History of the United Pattern Makers' Association. London: United Patternmakers' Association.
  11. United Patternmakers' Association, "Obituary", Annual Report (1963)
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