National Union of Hosiery and Knitwear Workers

The National Union of Hosiery and Knitwear Workers (NUHKW) was a trade union in the United Kingdom.

NUHKW
Full nameNational Union of Hosiery and Knitwear Workers
Founded1 January 1945
Date dissolved1991
Merged intoNational Union of Knitwear, Footwear and Apparel Trades
Members74,077 (1977)
JournalNUHKW Journal[1]
AffiliationTUC
Office location55 New Walk, Leicester
CountryUnited Kingdom

History

The union was founded in 1945, with the merger of five local unions: the Hinckley and District Hosiery Union, Ilkeston and District Hosiery Union, Leicester and Leicestershire Amalgamated Hosiery Union, Loughborough Federated Hosiery Union and Nottingham and District Hosiery Workers' Society. Shortly after, most Scottish unions voted to join the new organisation.[2] Sections were also created for northern and southern England and, by the end of the year, it had 22,430 members. The following year, it secured a national agreement limiting night work and restricting total working to 45 hours per week.[3]

DistrictMembership in December 1945[4]
Hinckley4,425
Ilkeston5,015
Leicester4,578
Loughborough1,600
Northern340
Nottingham3,544
Scottish2,424
Southern504

In 1970, a threat of national strike action secured a 10% wage increase and the abandonment of plans for a continuous shift system. Membership of the union continued to grow, reaching a peak of 74,077 in 1977.[3]

In 1969, the Nottingham Hosiery Finishers' Association amalgamated with the union, becoming its Nottingham (Finishers) District.[5] This was followed by the Leicester and Leicestershire Trimmers' and Auxiliary Association in 1970, and then all the other minor unions in the industry. The long-established Amalgamated Society of Operative Lace Makers and Textile Workers also joined. However, widespread redundancies in the sector began reducing membership. In 1991, it merged with the National Union of Footwear, Leather and Allied Trades, with 34,183 members remaining to join the new National Union of Knitwear, Footwear and Apparel Trades.[3]

Leadership

General Presidents
1945: Horace Moulden
1963: George Dearing
1968: Peter Pendergast
1975: Harold Gibson
1982: David Lambert

General Secretaries
1945: Clifford Groocock
1960: George Dearing
1963: Harold Gibson[6]
1975: David Lambert[7]
1982: George Marshall[8]
1984: Tom Kirk[9]
1989: Helen McGrath[10]

Further reading
  • Richard Gurnham A History of the TRADE UNION MOVEMENT in the HOSIERY and KNITWEAR INDUSTRY 1776-1976 (NUHKW, Leicester 1976)
  • Bramwell G Rudd COURTAULDS and the HOSIERY & KNITWEAR INDUSTRY (Carnegie Publishing Ltd) (2014, ISBN softback 978-1-905472-06-2, hardback 978-1-905472-18-5)

References
  1. Marsh, Arthur (1984). Trade Union Handbook (3 ed.). Aldershot: Gower. pp. 238–239. ISBN 0566024268.
  2. NUHKW - National Union of Hosiery and Knitwear Workers, Community (trade union) page archived at web.archive.org
  3. National Union of Hosiery & Knitwear Workers, Knitting Together
  4. Gurnham, Richard (1976). A History of the Trade Union movement in the Hosiery and Knitwear Industry. Leicester: National Union of Hosiery and Knitwear Workers. p. 153.
  5. Richard Stevens, "Charlesworth, John James", Dictionary of Labour Biography, vol.X, pp.42–47
  6. The Who's Who Of Radical Leicester Archived 2012-05-02 at the Wayback Machine retrieved 2012-05-28
  7. "Hosiery and Knitwear union ballots members...", Tribune 1981-05-08, retrieved 2012-05-28
  8. Knitwear leader dies Tribune (magazine) 1984-05-18, retrieved 2012-05-28]
  9. Knitwear post, Glasgow Herald 1984-06-12, retrieved 2012-05-28
  10. News in brief, 1994-04-29, retrieved 2012-05-28
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