The National Union of Vehicle Workers was formed as the London Carmen's Trade Union in 1888. By 1892 the union's membership had declined from an initial figure of 6,000 to 2,000. The membership of the union rose again in the period 1895-1910. The London Carmen's Trade Union originally represented carters of East End traffic to and from docks and warehouses. The union had a tradition of collaboration with other unions and in 1911 delegates were sent to the first General Council meeting of the National Transport Workers' Federation. The General Secretary of the union, Sam March, sat on the Executive Council of the National Transport Workers' Federation. The London Carmen's Trade Union was strongly influenced by syndicalism and its members were prominent in the 1911 strikes in London. The failure of the 1912 London transport workers' strikes however resulted in a significant loss of membership from 8,000 members in the union to half that number in 1913. In the same year the union changed its name to the National Union of Vehicle Workers (NUVW) . The NUVW was one of the founding members of the Transport and General Workers' Union and played a significant role in bringing road haulage workers into the new union.
Reference: Ken Coates and Tony Topham, The making of the Transport and General Workers' Union: the emergence of the labour movement 1870-1922, volume 1 (1991, Oxford)
From the guide to the National Union of Vehicle Workers, 1889-1923, (Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick Library)
