Furniture, Timber and Allied Trades Union

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

FTAT

Full name	Furniture, Timber and Allied Trades Union
Founded	1971
Date dissolved	1993
Merged into	GMB
Members	85,377 (1971[1])
Journal	FTAT Record[2]
Affiliation	TUC, CSEU, Labour Party
Office location	Roe Green, Kingsbury, London
Country	United Kingdom

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.

Election	Constituency	Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Position
1974 Feb general election	Hackney South and Shoreditch	Ronald Brown	18,580	59.6	1[7]
	Wycombe	William Frederick Back	18,822	29.5	2[7]
1974 Oct general election	Hackney South and Shoreditch	Ronald Brown	17,333	64.0	1[8]
	Wycombe	William Frederick Back	18,052	30.8	2[8]
1979 general election	Hackney South and Shoreditch	Ronald Brown	14,016	54.1	1[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

External links

• Catalogue of the FTAT archives, held at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick