English trade union
The Birmingham and Midland Sheet Metal Workers' Society (BMSMWS) was a trade union representing sheet metal workers in the English Midlands.
The union's origins lay in the Birmingham Tin Plate Workers' Society, which was formed in 1859.[2] In 1876, it merged with the Wolverhampton Tin Plate Workers' Society to form what later became the National Amalgamated Association of Tin Plate Workers. The societies retained much of their independence, particularly in the early years.[3] In 1906, the society renamed itself as the Birmingham Operative Tin-Plate, Sheet Metal Workers and Braziers' Society.[4]
In 1909, the Birmingham society fell into dispute with the National Amalgamated Association over payments to workers involved in disputes. As a result, it left, forming the independent Birmingham and Midland Sheet Metal Workers' Society. This remained independent when all the other sheet metal workers' unions merged into the National Union of Sheet Metal Workers and Braziers, until it finally joined the National Union of Sheet Metal Workers, Coppersmiths, Heating and Domestic Engineers in 1973.[3]
Secretaries
- 1909: John Valentine Stevens
- 1920: Charles Brett
- 1939: Richard Baston
- 1951: Harry Townsend
- 1959: Alf Cooper
References
- ^ Trades Union Congress, Report of the 1968 Annual Trades Union Congress, p.34
- ^ Peter Carter and John B. Smethurst, Historical Directory of Trades Unions, vol.6, p.293
- ^ a b Arthur Marsh and Victoria Ryan, Historical Directory of Trade Unions, vol.2, pp.105, 117-118
- ^ Jisc, "Papers of the Birmingham and Midland Sheet Metal Workers' Society"
