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National Union of Boot and Shoe Operatives

The National Union of Boot and Shoe Operatives (NUBSO) was a trade union in the United Kingdom which existed between 1873 and 1971. It represented workers in the footwear industry.

NUBSO
National Union of Boot and Shoe Operatives
Merged intoNational Union of Footwear, Leather and Allied Trades
Founded1873
Dissolved1971
HeadquartersThe Grange, Earls Barton, Northamptonshire
Location
Members100,000 (1920)[1]
AffiliationsTUC, ITUC, Labour, ISLWF

History

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The union was founded in 1873, when many riveters and finishers left the Amalgamated Society of Boot and Shoe Makers. They were dissatisfied by their low status within the old union, and instead formed the National Union of Boot and Shoe Rivetters and Finishers (NUBSRF).[1] Membership in Leicester grew rapidly, with the next largest branches being Glasgow, London and Stafford. In total, by 1877, the union had about 4,000 members.[2]

A few women joined the union in the late 1880s, making it the first union outside the textile trades to admit both men and women. At this point, membership in the important shoe making centre of Northampton was low, with only about 600 of 15,000 shoe workers in the town holding union membership. That year, a five-week lock-out of members resulted in a settlement favourable to the union. This brought in hundreds of new members, and by the end of the year, its national membership reached 10,000.[2] The General Union of Clickers and Rough-stuff Cutters merged into the NUBSRF in 1892, but most of its members left again in 1895.[1]

During the late 1880s and early 1890s, socialists came to prominence in the union. They led campaigns against sweatshop working and outworking, where people worked from their own homes and were paid by item completed.[3] Under their influence, the union organised a 34-week strike in 1897, in support of a minimum wage and a 54-hour week, but this was unsuccessful.[1]

In 1897, the union renamed itself as the "National Union of Boot and Shoe Operatives", and joined the General Federation of Trade Unions the following year. Membership rose over 100,000 by 1920, although it soon fell to around 80,000.[1] Members in the Republic of Ireland left in 1953, to form the Irish Shoe and Leather Workers' Union.[4]

A major decline in the British shoe-making industry led the union to merge with the Amalgamated Society of Leather Workers, the National Union of Glovers and Leather Workers and the National Union of Leather Workers and Allied Trades in 1971, forming National Union of Footwear, Leather and Allied Trades.[1]

Election results

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The union was affiliated to the Labour Party, and sponsored numerous Parliamentary candidates, many of whom won election.

Election Constituency Candidate Votes % share Position
1906 general election Wolverhampton West Thomas Frederick Richards 6,767 50.9 1[5]
1910 Jan general election Bristol East Frank Sheppard 1,874 31.2 2
Wolverhampton West Thomas Frederick Richards 5,790 47.6 2
1918 general election Wellingborough Walter Smith 10,290 52.5 1[6]
1922 general election Eccles John Buckle 14,354 51.4 1[7]
Leicester West Alfred Hill 12,929 45.0 1[7]
Wellingborough Walter Smith 11,057 42.4 2[7]
Wells Len Smith 4,048 18.9 3[7]
1923 general election Daventry Len Smith 4,127 17.5 3[6]
Eccles John Buckle 12,267 42.7 1[6]
Norwich Walter Smith 20,077 20.9 1[6]
1924 general election Eccles John Buckle 14,354 51.4 1[6]
Norwich Walter Smith 23,808 22.9 3[6]
1929 general election Altrincham Alfred Dobbs 9,242 16.4 3[8]
Frome Frederick Gould 18,524 45.5 1[8]
Norwich Walter Smith 33,690 26.0 2[8]
Nottingham East James Baum 9,787 28.0 3[8]
Stafford Len Smith 10,011 36.6 2[8]
1931 general election Frome Frederick Gould 17,748 41.7 2[9]
Kingston upon Hull North West James Baum 9,946 27.3 2[9]
Leeds North East Alfred Dobbs 10,294 24.5 2[9]
Norwich Walter Smith 28,295 21.0 3[9]
Stafford Len Smith 8,640 31.9 2[9]
1935 general election Kilmarnock James Crawford 12,558 33.4 2[10]
Leeds North East Alfred Dobbs 14,080 35.2 2[10]
Leicester East Frederick Gould 17,532 42.6 2[10]
1945 general election Bosworth Arthur Allen 26,151 55.6 1[11]
Burton Arthur W. Lyne 18,288 51.1 1[11]
Harborough Humphrey Attewell 23,353 42.5 1[11]
Smethwick Alfred Dobbs 20,522 65.9 1[11]
1950 general election Bosworth Arthur Allen 29,282 53.6 1[12]
Harborough Humphrey Attewell 21,381 38.2 2[12]
1951 general election Bosworth Arthur Allen 30,767 57.1 1[13]
1966 general election Bridgwater Richard Mayer 17,864 38.1 2[14]

Leadership

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General Secretaries

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1874: Thomas Smith
1878: George Sedgwick
1886: William Inskip
1899: W. Boyd Hornidge
1908: Edward L. Poulton
1930: George Chester
1949: Lionel Poole
1960: Richard Gregson
1968: T. A. Moore

General Presidents

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1878: Edward Kell
1890: T. Horrabin
1892: Jabez Leedham
1892: John Judge
1893: W. Boyd Hornidge
1899: Charles Freak
1910: Thomas Frederick Richards
1930: W. R. Townley
1938: Len Smith
1944: James Crawford
1957: Sydney Robinson

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "National Union of Boot and Shoe Operatives", Trade Union Ancestors
  2. ^ a b Fox, Alan (1958). A History of the National Union of Boot and Shoe Operatives: 1874-1957. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. pp. 75, 102–103.
  3. ^ Fox, Alan (1958). A History of the National Union of Boot and Shoe Operatives: 1874-1957. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. pp. 105–117.
  4. ^ John B. Smethurst and Peter Carter, Historical directory of trade unions, vol.6, p.101
  5. ^ Frank Bealey and Henry Pelling, Labour and Politics, 1900-1906, pp.290-292
  6. ^ a b c d e f Fox, Alan (1958). A History of the National Union of Boot and Shoe Operatives. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. p. 462.
  7. ^ a b c d Labour Party, Report of the Twenty-second Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp.255-272. Note that this list is of the sanctioned candidates as of June 1922, and there were some changes between this date and the general election.
  8. ^ a b c d e "List of Labour Candidates and Election Results, May 30th, 1929". Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party: 24–44. 1929.
  9. ^ a b c d e "List of Endorsed Labour Candidates and Election Results, October 27, 1931". Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party: 11–27. 1931.
  10. ^ a b c "List of Endorsed Labour Candidates and Election Results, November 14, 1935". Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party: 8–23. 1935.
  11. ^ a b c d Labour Party, Report of the Forty-Fifth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp.232-248
  12. ^ a b "List of Parliamentary Labour candidates and election results, February 23rd, 1950". Report of the Forty-Ninth Annual Conference of the Labour Party: 179–198. 1950.
  13. ^ "List of Parliamentary Labour candidates and election results, 25th October, 1951". Report of the Fiftieth Annual Conference of the Labour Party: 184–203. 1951.
  14. ^ Labour Party, Report of the Sixty-Fifth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp.308-330
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