The union dated its formation to 1831, although it is not known to have existed with certainty until 1833. By then, it consisted of seven craft unions: the Operative Society of Bricklayers, Friendly Society of Operative House Carpenters and Joiners, Operative United Painters, Operative Federal Plasterers, Operative Plumbers' and Glaziers' Society, Slaters Society and Friendly Society of Operative Stonemasons. Each affiliate was organised in several districts, which had a central lodge. Each year, one of these affiliate's lodges would provide the Grand Lodge Committee, which arranged co-ordination between the affiliates. The location was decided at an twice annual conference, which was known as the "Builders' Parliament".[2] The headquarters of the union moved each year: it was in Huddersfield in 1832, Birmingham in 1833, and Manchester in 1834.
The union grew rapidly, with 6,000 members at the start of 1833, but 40,000 later in the year; it was particularly strong in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Newcastle. The growth was primarily due to its opposition to the contracting out of work. It also campaigned against mechanisation, piecework, and the recruitment of too many apprentices, and in favour of a set wage scale for each job role. This was strongly opposed by masters in the trades, and in both Birmingham and Manchester, union members were denied work.[2]
In the hope of gaining broader support, the union affiliated to Robert Owen's Grand National Consolidated Trades Union. In 1834, it became an integral part of the Grand National, renaming itself as the National Building Guild. However, the Grand National soon collapsed, and the guild similarly dissolved around the turn of 1834 and 1835. Despite this, several of the guild's affiliates survived.[2]
Referencesedit
^ abPostgate, Raymond (1923). The Builders' History. London: National Federation of Building Trade Operatives. pp. 55–114.
^ abcArthur Marsh and John B. Smethurst, Historical Directory of Trade Unions, vol.5, pp.42-43
January 01, 1970
operative, builders, union, early, trade, union, federation, representing, construction, maintenance, workers, united, kingdom, founded1831dissolved1834locationunited, kingdommembers40, 1833, peoplejohn, embleton, publicationpioneeraffiliationsgnctu, union, da. The Operative Builders Union was an early trade union federation representing construction and maintenance workers in the United Kingdom Operative Builders UnionFounded1831Dissolved1834LocationUnited KingdomMembers40 000 1833 1 Key peopleJohn Embleton Gen Sec 1 PublicationPioneerAffiliationsGNCTU The union dated its formation to 1831 although it is not known to have existed with certainty until 1833 By then it consisted of seven craft unions the Operative Society of Bricklayers Friendly Society of Operative House Carpenters and Joiners Operative United Painters Operative Federal Plasterers Operative Plumbers and Glaziers Society Slaters Society and Friendly Society of Operative Stonemasons Each affiliate was organised in several districts which had a central lodge Each year one of these affiliate s lodges would provide the Grand Lodge Committee which arranged co ordination between the affiliates The location was decided at an twice annual conference which was known as the Builders Parliament 2 The headquarters of the union moved each year it was in Huddersfield in 1832 Birmingham in 1833 and Manchester in 1834 The union grew rapidly with 6 000 members at the start of 1833 but 40 000 later in the year it was particularly strong in London Birmingham Manchester Liverpool and Newcastle The growth was primarily due to its opposition to the contracting out of work It also campaigned against mechanisation piecework and the recruitment of too many apprentices and in favour of a set wage scale for each job role This was strongly opposed by masters in the trades and in both Birmingham and Manchester union members were denied work 2 In the hope of gaining broader support the union affiliated to Robert Owen s Grand National Consolidated Trades Union In 1834 it became an integral part of the Grand National renaming itself as the National Building Guild However the Grand National soon collapsed and the guild similarly dissolved around the turn of 1834 and 1835 Despite this several of the guild s affiliates survived 2 References edit a b Postgate Raymond 1923 The Builders History London National Federation of Building Trade Operatives pp 55 114 a b c Arthur Marsh and John B Smethurst Historical Directory of Trade Unions vol 5 pp 42 43 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Operative Builders 27 Union amp oldid 1072318150, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
