Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section

TASS
Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section
Merged intoManufacturing Science and Finance
Founded21 May 1913 (1913-05-21)
Dissolved1988
HeadquartersOnslow Hall, Richmond upon Thames[1]
Location
  • United Kingdom
Members170,751 (1980)[1]
Publication
The Draughtsman
TASS News and Journal[1]
Parent organization
Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers (1970–1985)
AffiliationsTUC, CSEU, IMF, LMTU, Labour
Banner of AUEW-TASS

The Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section (TASS) was a British trade union.

History

The union was founded in 1913 by 200 draughtsmen, as the Association of Engineering and Shipbuilding Draughtsmen (AESD). It expanded rapidly, and had more than 14,000 member by the end of the decade. Although it declined during the Great Depression, it retained most of its members by offering unemployment benefit, and by 1939 established a new high of 23,000 members, this rising to 44,000 by the end of World War II and over 75,000 by 1968. From 1960, it accepted technicians in ancillary roles, changing its name to the Draughtsmen's and Allied Technicians' Association (DATA).[2]

In 1970, DATA amalgamated with the Amalgamated Union of Engineering and Foundry Workers (AUEFW) and Constructional Engineering Union (CEU) to form the Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers (AUEW). The former members of DATA formed the Technical and Supervisory Section of the new union. At the 1973 Representative Council Conference it was agreed to rename it the Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section (TASS).

In 1985, after considerable problems within the AUEW, TASS broke away to become an independent union.

TASS absorbed the National Union of Gold, Silver and Allied Trades (NUGSAT) in 1981, the National Union of Sheet Metal Workers, Coppersmiths, Heating and Domestic Engineers in 1983, the Association of Patternmakers and Allied Craftsmen in 1984, the Tobacco Workers' Union in 1986, and the National Society of Metal Mechanics in 1987.

In 1988, it merged with the Association of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staffs (ASTMS) to become the Manufacturing Science and Finance Union (MSF). MSF in turn merged with the AEEU to form Amicus in 2002. This resulted in TASS and the former AUEW (by then part of the AEEU) being re-united within one union.

Election results

The union sponsored Labour Party candidates in each Parliamentary election from 1950 onwards.

Election Constituency Candidate Votes Percentage Position
1950 general election Bristol West Edward Bishop 12,677 30.0 2[3]
South Buckinghamshire Cyril Dee 11,389 23.9 2[3]
1951 general election Exeter Edward Bishop 18,576 40.7 2[4]
South Buckinghamshire Cyril Dee 14,170 31.4 2[4]
1955 general election Bromsgrove Lester George 22,287 44.8 2[5]
South Gloucestershire Edward Bishop 20,034 47.4 2[5]
1959 general election Glasgow Cathcart James Jarvie 21,169 40.8 2[6]
Wembley South Edward Mackenzie 12,166 32.6 2[6]
1964 general election Chislehurst Ronald Huzzard 20,736 41.2 2[7]
Newark Edward Bishop 26,171 54.4 1[7]
Tynemouth Albert Booth 25,894 43.7 2[7]
1966 general election Barrow-in-Furness Albert Booth 23,485 60.3 1[8]
Newark Edward Bishop 27,402 56.7 1[8]
1968 by-election Bassetlaw Joe Ashton 21,394 49.6 1
1970 general election Barrow-in-Furness Albert Booth 22,400 56.1 1[9]
Bassetlaw Joe Ashton 28,959 54.9 1[9]
Newark Edward Bishop 26,455 51.2 1[9]
Oldham East James Lamond 17,020 51.1 1[9]
Feb 1974 general election Barrow-in-Furness Albert Booth 19,925 46.1 1[10]
Bassetlaw Joe Ashton 33,724 60.0 1[10]
Newark Edward Bishop 31,586 53.8 1[10]
Oldham East James Lamond 18,548 48.2 1[10]
Oct 1974 general election Barrow-in-Furness Albert Booth 21,607 51.4 1[11]
Bassetlaw Joe Ashton 28,663 53.7 1[11]
Newark Edward Bishop 26,598 47.9 1[11]
Oldham East James Lamond 19,054 52.8 1[11]
1979 general election Barrow-in-Furness Albert Booth 22,687 53.2 1[12]
Bassetlaw Joe Ashton 29,426 50.2 1[12]
Dundee West Ernie Ross 23,654 47.3 1[12]
Newark Edward Bishop 25,960 43.0 2[12]
Oldham East James Lamond 18,248 50.7 1[12]
1983 general election Barrow-in-Furness Albert Booth 17,707 34.7 2[13]
Bassetlaw Joe Ashton 22,231 45.6 1[13]
Chorley Ivan Taylor 17,586 30.5 2[13]
Dundee West Ernie Ross 20,288 43.4 1[13]
Oldham Central and Royton James Lamond 18,611 41.4 1[13]
Preston Stan Thorne 21,810 46.7 1
Stockport Peter R. Ward 12,731 29.0 2[13]
Stockton North Frank Cook 18,339 37.1 1[13]
1987 general election Bassetlaw Joe Ashton 25,385 48.1 1
Dundee West Ernie Ross 24,916 53.4 1
Glasgow Springburn Michael Martin 25,617 73.6 1
Oldham Central and Royton James Lamond 21,759 48.1 1
Stockton North Frank Cook 26,043 49.2 1

Leadership

General Secretaries

1913: L. Blair[14]
1918: Peter Doig[14]
1945: James Young[14]
1952: George Doughty[14]
1974: Ken Gill

Assistant General Secretaries

1919: David Manteklow[14]
1920: David Manteklow and James Young[14]
1929: Post vacant[14]
1946: John Holland[14]
1956: J. Dickinson[14]

Deputy General Secretaries

1968: Ken Gill
1973: John Forrester
1979: Eric Winterbottom
1983: Barbara Switzer

References

  1. ^ a b c Eaton, Jack; Gill, Colin (1981). The Trade Union Directory. London: Pluto Press. pp. 106–113. ISBN 0861043502.
  2. ^ Peter Armstrong et al, White Collar Workers Trade Unions and Class, pp. 163–164.
  3. ^ a b "List of Parliamentary Labour candidates and election results, February 23rd, 1950". Report of the Conference of the Labour Party: 179–198. 1950.
  4. ^ a b Labour Party, Report of the Fiftieth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 184–203.
  5. ^ a b Labour Party, Report of the Fifty-Fourth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 255–275.
  6. ^ a b Labour Party, Report of the Fifty-Eighth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 179–201.
  7. ^ a b c Labour Party, Report of the Sixty-Third Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 158–180.
  8. ^ a b Labour Party, Report of the Sixty-Fifth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 308–330.
  9. ^ a b c d Labour Party, Report of the Sixty-Ninth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 289–312.
  10. ^ a b c d Labour Party, Report of the Seventy-Third Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 371–390.
  11. ^ a b c d Labour Party, Report of the Seventy-Third Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 391–411.
  12. ^ a b c d e Labour Party, Report of the Seventy-Eighth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 406–431.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g General Election Guide. BBC Data Publications. 1983. ISBN 094635815X.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h i Mortimer, J. E. (1960). A History of the Association of Engineering and Shipbuilding Draughtsmen. London: Macgibbon and Kee.