Furniture, Timber and Allied Trades Union

The Furniture, Timber and Allied Trades Union (FTAT) was a trade union in the United Kingdom.

FTAT
Furniture, Timber and Allied Trades Union
Merged intoGMB
Founded1971
Dissolved1993
HeadquartersRoe Green, Kingsbury, London
Location
Members
85,377 (1971[1])
PublicationFTAT Record[2]
AffiliationsTUC, CSEU, Labour Party

History

The union was founded in 1971 by the merger of the National Union of Furniture Trade Operatives (NUFTO) and the Amalgamated Society of Woodcutting Machinists. In 1978, the National Union of Funeral Service Operatives merged with it, while the National Society of Brushmakers and General Workers joined in 1983. The following year, its total membership was 85,407.[3] The union was a member of the Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions.[4]

Initially, the union had six trade groups, reduced to five in the 1980s: upholstery, soft furnishing and bedding, woodcutting machinists, funeral services, flat glass and processing, and supervisory and clerical.[1]

The union was known for its left-wing outlook, inherited from NUFTO. In the 1981 Labour Party deputy leadership election, it supported Tony Benn.[1] Some of FTAT's Silentnight members, based in Barnoldswick, were involved in Britain's longest ever strike, from 1985 until 1987.[5]

By 1993, membership was down to 31,642, and the union merged with the GMB, forming the bulk of its new "Construction, Furniture, Timber and Allied" section.[6]

Election results

The union sponsored Labour Party candidates in several Parliamentary elections.

ElectionConstituencyCandidateVotesPercentagePosition
1974 Feb general electionHackney South and ShoreditchRonald Brown18,58059.61[7]
WycombeWilliam Frederick Back18,82229.52[7]
1974 Oct general electionHackney South and ShoreditchRonald Brown17,33364.01[8]
WycombeWilliam Frederick Back18,05230.82[8]
1979 general electionHackney South and ShoreditchRonald Brown14,01654.11[7]

General Secretaries
1971: Alf Tomkins
1975: Robert Shube
1978: Ben Rubner
1986: Colin Christopher

References
  1. Jürgen Hoffman, Marcus Kahmann and Jeremy Waddington, A Comparison of the Trade Union Merger Process in Britain and Germany, pp.60-61
  2. Marsh, Arthur (1984). Trade Union Handbook (3 ed.). Aldershot: Gower. p. 206. ISBN 0566024268.
  3. Arthur Ivor Marsh, Trade union handbook, p.188
  4. Arthur Ivor Marsh, Trade union handbook, pp.84-85
  5. "What came after the longest strike in history was finally put to bed". Craven Herald. Retrieved 2016-06-14.
  6. Jeremy Waddington et al, A comparison of the trade union merger process in Britain and Germany, pp.159-160
  7. Labour Party, Report of the Seventy-Third Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp.371-390
  8. Labour Party, Report of the Seventy-Third Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp.391-411
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