The Engineering Employers Federation was established on 24 April 1896 as the Employers Federation of Engineering Associations. A predecessor body, the Iron Trades Employers Association, founded in 1872, was not a negotiating body and was mainly concerned with providing assistance to employers in disputes. It was dissolved in 1900. An attempt to form a national federation was begun in 1889, but the Federation of Shipbuilding & Engineering Employers was one in which shipbuilding interests predominated. The Clyde-Belfast dispute and Clyde lockout of late 1895 provided further incentive to engineering employers to combine and led to the Federation in April 1896. By 1899 the Federation had adopted the title Engineering Employers Federation (EEF). The EEF are still providing support and advice to engineering and manufacturing employees today.
From the guide to the Records of the Engineering Employers Federation, trade association, Glasgow, Scotland, 1914-1962, (Glasgow University Archives Service)
