Transport and General Workers' Union (Great Britain)

The Transport and General Workers' Union was formed in 1922 by the amalgamation of fourteen unions: the Amalgamated Society of Watermen, Lightermen and Bargemen; the Amalgamated Carters, Lurrymen and Motormen's Union; the Amalgamated Association of Carters and Motormen; the Associated Horsemen's Union; the Dock, Wharf, Riverside and General Workers' Union of Great Britain and Ireland; the Labour Protection League; the National Amalgamated Labourers' Union of Great Britain and Ireland; the National Union of Docks, Wharves and Shipping Staffs; the National Association of Ships' Clerks, Grain Weighers and Coalmeters; the National Union of Vehicle Workers; the National Amalgamated Coal Porters' Union of Inland and Seaborne Coal Workers; the North of England Trimmers and Teemers' Association; the North of Scotland Horse and Motormen's Association; and the United Vehicle Workers. Since then the TGWU has continued to absorb many other trade unions, notably the National Union of Dock, Riverside and General Workers in Great Britain and Ireland in 1922, the Workers' Union in 1929, the National Association of Operative Plasterers in 1968, the Chemical Workers' Union in 1971, the National Union of Agricultural and Allied Workers in 1981, and the National Union of Dyers, Bleachers and Textile Workers in 1982.

Reference: K. Coates and T. Topham, The Making of the Labour Movement: The formation of the Transport and General Workers' Union, 1870-1922 (Oxford : Basil Blackwell Ltd., 1991).

From the guide to the Papers of the Transport and General Workers' Union, 1862-1998, (Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick Library)