Amalgamated Engineering Union

The Amalgamated Engineering Union was a major British trade union. It merged with the Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union to form the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union in 1992.

History

The history of the union can be traced back to the formation of the Journeymen Steam Engine, Machine Makers' and Millwrights' Friendly Society, in 1826, popularly known as the "Old Mechanics". They invited a large number of other unions to become part of what became the Amalgamated Society of Engineers.
In 1920, the ASE put out a fresh call for other unions to merge with it in a renamed Amalgamated Engineering Union. Seventeen unions balloted their members on a possible merger, and nine voted in favour of amalgamation:

Amalgamated Association of Brass Turners, Fitters, Finishers and Coppersmiths
Amalgamated Instrument Makers' Society
Amalgamated Society of General Tool Makers, Engineers and Machinists
East of Scotland Brass Founders' Society
London United Metal Turners', Fitters' and Finishers' Society
North of England Brass Turners', Fitters' and Finishers' Society
Steam Engine Makers' Society
United Kingdom Society of Amalgamated Smiths and Strikers
United Machine Workers' Association

The resulting union had a membership of 450,000, about 300,000 coming from the ASE.
In 1922 employers, represented by the Engineering Employers' Federation, launched an industry-wide lockout in an attempt to reverse the gains made by the AEU during WWI and its aftermath. Exploiting the downturn in economic conditions in the engineering industry, they demanded the union forfeit control over overtime. The lockout lasted from 11 March to 13 June and involved 260,000 workers, 90,000 of them represented by the AEU. The lockout ended with the union conceding some of the employers' demands.
The AEU continued to grow and absorb smaller unions. From 1926, it accepted members who had not completed an apprenticeship. In 1933, it had 168,000 members, and 390,900 by the end of the decade. Its largest membership growth came during the Second World War when its all-male membership voted to admit women for the first time and 100,000 joined almost immediately, membership reaching 825,000 by 1943. It admitted women due to the increasing role of female industrial workers in the United Kingdom home front during [World War II|British home front], as well as to prevent either female workers joining rival unions or non-union female workers from undercutting union wages. However, during World War II the AEU also lost its overseas branches in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, which became independent unions.
From the 1940s, the AEU also absorbed various smaller unions: the Amalgamated Society of Glass Works Engineers, Amalgamated Society of Vehicle Builders, Carpenters and Mechanics, Amalgamated Machine, Engine and Iron Grinders' and Glaziers' Society, Leeds Spindle and Flyer Makers' Trade and Friendly Society, United Operative Spindle and Flyer Makers' Trade and Friendly Society, and the Turners', Fitters' and Instrument Makers' Union.
The AEU merged with the Amalgamated Union of Foundry Workers on 1 January 1968 to form the Amalgamated Union of Engineering and Foundry Workers, and with the Draughtsmen and Allied Technicians' Association and Constructional Engineering Union in 1971 to form the Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers. The union was now organised on a federal basis, with four sections: Engineering, Foundry, Construction, and Technical, Administrative and Supervisory. This approach was not a success, as the various sections fell into dispute with each other. In 1984, the Engineering, Foundry and Construction Sections were merged and in 1986 adopted the name Amalgamated Engineering Union once more, while the TASS remained separate and, in 1988, it became entirely independent of the union once more.
Despite this series of amalgamations, declines in the number of workers in heavy industry saw membership drop from a peak of 1,483,400 in 1979, to 858,000 in 1986. The AEU became a mainstay of the moderate right in the trade union movement through the 1980s and 1990s, leading the manufacturing unions in 1989-1991 in a successful push for a shorter working week, but failing to merge with a number of unions, notally the Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians.
In 1992 the AEU finally achieved a merger with the Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union, EETPU, after a hundred years of off and on discussions. The new union took the name Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union.

Election results

Like the ASE before it, the AEU affiliated to the Labour Party, sponsoring candidates at each election, many of whom won seats in Parliament.

Election	Constituency	Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Position
1922 general election	Aberdeen North		10,958	55.7	1
1922 general election	Ashton-under-Lyne		8,834	42.4	2
1922 general election	Basingstoke		3,035	13.6	3
1922 general election	Camborne		4,502	21.9	3
1922 general election	Dumbarton Burghs		16,397	64.5	1
1922 general election	Edmonton		8,407	45.1	1
1922 general election	Gateshead		18,795	43.8	1
1922 general election	Newcastle upon Tyne West		11,654	43.9	1
1922 general election	Newton		12,312	55.6	1
1922 general election	Plymouth Drake		8,359	31.4	2
1922 general election	Rochdale		15,774	38.8	1
1922 general election	Stalybridge and Hyde		7,578	21.6	3
1922 general election	The Wrekin		10,603	47.6	2
1922 general election	Woolwich West		9,550	39.8	2
1922 general election	Yeovil		9,581	38.3	2
1923 general election	Aberdeen North		9,138	50.6	1
1923 general election	Edmonton		10,735	64.4	1
1923 general election	Gateshead		16,689	41.1	2
1923 general election	Newcastle upon Tyne West		11,527	43.2	2
1923 general election	Newton		12,492	59.9	1
1923 general election	Rochdale		13,525	32.6	2
1924 general election	Dumbarton Burghs		14,562	59.2	1
1924 general election	Edmonton		11,614	53.1	1
1924 general election	Newton		12,875	56.1	1
1929 general election	Dartford		26,871	50.6	1
1929 general election	Dumbarton Burghs		19,193	63.1	1
1929 general election	Edmonton		17,555	59.3	1
1929 general election	Newton		18,176	60.5	1
1931 by-election	Sunderland		30,074	39.8	2
1931 general election	Barrow		15,835	43.2	2
1935 general election	Consett		25,419	58.7	1
1935 general election	Dumbarton Burghs		20,409	65.2	1
1935 general election	Newton		19,992	58.5	1
1945 general election	Aberdeen South		17,398	42.3	2
1945 general election	Dumbarton Burghs		16,262	65.2	1
1945 general election	Manchester Hulme		12,034	55.6	1
1945 general election	Newton		25,197	62.0	1
1948 by-election	Edmonton		26,164	53.4	1
1949 by-election	Leeds West		21,935	55.2	1
1950 general election	Bury and Radcliffe		25,705	44.4	2
1950 general election	East Dunbartonshire		25,943	52.7	1
1950 general election	Edmonton		34,897	55.1	1
1950 general election	Hayes and Harlington		22,490	60.1	1
1950 general election	Keighley		21,833	48.5	1
1950 general election	Leeds West		21,339	51.6	1
1950 general election	Newcastle upon Tyne North		16,860	35.9	2
1950 general election	Newton		31,832	59.1	1
1950 general election	Rochdale		25,484	44.9	1
1950 general election	Southall		27,107	53.9	1
1951 general election	Cirencester and Tewkesbury		18,353	40.5	2
1951 general election	East Dunbartonshire		26,678	51.2	1
1951 general election	Edmonton		36,023	58.4	1
1951 general election	Esher		15,334	28.6	2
1951 general election	Glasgow Scotstoun		20,872	49.3	2
1951 general election	Hayes and Harlington		23,823	64.8	1
1951 general election	Keighley		23,743	52.8	1
1951 general election	Leeds West		22,357	54.1	1
1951 general election	Newton		31,374	58.3	1
1951 general election	Rochdale		27,343	49.6	2
1951 general election	Southall		29,123	57.9	1
1951 general election	Southend West		17,352	30.9	2
1951 general election	Stockport North		20,893	44.9	2
1955 general election	Barry		19,722	42.1	2
1955 general election	Bridgwater		17,170	40.8	2
1955 general election	East Dunbartonshire		24,216	48.7	1
1955 general election	Edmonton		30,232	56.6	1
1955 general election	Glasgow Woodside		15,543	43.9	2
1955 general election	High Peak		13,652	34.6	2
1955 general election	Keighley		19,414	46.5	1
1955 general election	Leeds West		24,576	52.8	1
1955 general election	Newton		29,299	57.9	1
1955 general election	Rochdale		24,928	48.5	2
1955 general election	Southall		25,207	57.2	1
1955 general election	Stockport South		16,612	44.5	2
1958 by-election	Rochdale		22,133	44.7	1
1959 general election	Burnley		27,675	57.0	1
1959 general election	Doncaster		22,935	46.4	2
1959 general election	East Dunbartonshire		27,942	51.1	1
1959 general election	Edmonton		25,598	50.5	1
1959 general election	Glasgow Scotstoun		24,690	53.7	1
1959 general election	Glasgow Woodside		14,483	43.1	2
1959 general election	High Peak		13,827	34.0	2
1959 general election	Keighley		20,456	49.8	2
1959 general election	Leeds West		25,878	54.9	1
1959 general election	Newton		31,041	57.4	1
1959 general election	Oxford		18,310	34.8	2
1959 general election	Rochdale		21,689	41.5	1
1959 general election	Southall		22,285	52.7	1
1959 general election	South Northamptonshire		18,292	43.0	2
1959 general election	Stockport South		17,982	46.7	2
1963 by-election	Swansea East		18,909	61.1	1
1964 general election	Bradford North		17,905	43.6	1
1964 general election	Bristol North West		21,030	42.9	2
1964 general election	Burnley		25,244	56.8	1
1964 general election	Doncaster		23,845	49.9	1
1964 general election	East Dunbartonshire		32,948	55.6	1
1964 general election	Edmonton		24,373	49.2	1
1964 general election	Gateshead East		26,633	64.5	1
1964 general election	Glasgow Scotstoun		27,036	61.6	1
1964 general election	Keighley		17,816	43.0	1
1964 general election	Leeds West		22,968	50.5	1
1964 general election	Newton		32,932	56.0	1
1964 general election	Paisley		26,318	52.9	1
1964 general election	Rochdale		22,927	46.7	1
1964 general election	Salford West		20,490	55.5	1
1964 general election	Southall		18,041	48.0	1
1964 general election	Swansea East		30,904	73.0	1
1964 general election	Tottenham		19,458	54.7	1
1964 general election	Truro		14,224	31.5	2
1964 general election	Wallsend		39,841	60.4	1
1966 general election	Bradford North		21,727	55.4	1
1966 general election	Burnley		25,583	60.4	1
1966 general election	Consett		29,753	73.3	1
1966 general election	Doncaster		25,777	56.7	1
1966 general election	East Dunbartonshire		32,988	52.2	1
1966 general election	Edmonton		26,422	58.6	1
1966 general election	Gateshead East		27,628	69.6	1
1966 general election	Glasgow Scotstoun		27,320	61.8	1
1966 general election	Keighley		22,039	55.0	1
1966 general election	Leeds West		24,391	56.3	1
1966 general election	Newton		36,901	62.8	1
1966 general election	Paisley		28,074	60.0	1
1966 general election	Rochdale		24,481	52.4	1
1966 general election	Salford West		19,237	59.2	1
1966 general election	Swansea East		30,290	75.4	1
1966 general election	Tottenham		17,367	65.3	1
1966 general election	Wallsend		39,744	65.2	1
1970 general election	Aberdeen North		27,707	62.1	1
1970 general election	Bradford North		20,141	52.1	1
1970 general election	Burnley		24,200	57.0	1
1970 general election	Consett		28,985	70.9	1
1970 general election	Doncaster		22,658	50.7	1
1970 general election	Edmonton		20,626	49.1	1
1970 general election	Gateshead East		28,524	64.8	1
1970 general election	Glasgow Scotstoun		26,492	57.4	1
1970 general election	Keighley		20,341	49.3	2
1970 general election	Leeds West		21,618	51.8	1
1970 general election	Louth		16,403	33.9	2
1970 general election	Merthyr Tydfil		9,234	28.7	2
1970 general election	Newton		34,873	52.5	1
1970 general election	Paisley		25,429	54.1	1
1970 general election	Rochdale		19,247	41.6	1
1970 general election	Salford West		16,986	54.3	1
1970 general election	South Northamptonshire		21,131	37.2	2
1970 general election	South West Norfolk		16,572	42.7	2
1970 general election	Swansea East		28,183	68.5	1
1970 general election	Tottenham		17,367	61.3	1
1970 general election	Wallsend		39,065	61.3	1
1973 by-election	Dundee East		14,411	32.7	1
1974 Feb general election	Aberdeen North		23,193	47.7	1
1974 Feb general election	Bradford North		22,381	43.3	1
1974 Feb general election	Bridgwater		16,786	29.5	2
1974 Feb general election	Burnley		21,108	50.4	1
1974 Feb general election	Carlton		20,147	33.5	2
1974 Feb general election	Chorley		25,440	40.3	1
1974 Feb general election	Consett		27,401	61.1	1
1974 Feb general election	Coventry North East		30,496	63.9	1
1974 Feb general election	Doncaster		23,041	47.9	1
1974 Feb general election	Dundee East		17,100	33.7	2
1974 Feb general election	Gateshead East		27,269	55.2	1
1974 Feb general election	Glasgow Garscadden		21,035	52.3	1
1974 Feb general election	Gloucester		18,215	35.2	2
1974 Feb general election	Leeds West		19,436	42.1	1
1974 Feb general election	Newton		38,369	49.3	1
1974 Feb general election	Paisley		23,820	48.4	1
1974 Feb general election	St Pancras North		14,761	52.8	1
1974 Feb general election	Salford West		16,808	51.3	1
1974 Feb general election	Swansea East		28,537	66.3	1
1974 Feb general election	Tottenham		16,999	54.8	1
1974 Feb general election	Wallsend		41,811	62.0	1
1974 Oct general election	Aberdeen North		23,130	50.9	1
1974 Oct general election	Bradford North		22,841	49.1	1
1974 Oct general election	Burnley		21,642	54.8	1
1974 Oct general election	Chorley		27,290	44.1	1
1974 Oct general election	Consett		27,123	67.0	1
1974 Oct general election	Coventry North East		26,489	59.5	1
1974 Oct general election	Doncaster		22,177	51.3	1
1974 Oct general election	Dundee East		15,137	32.7	2
1974 Oct general election	Gateshead East		27,620	61.9	1
1974 Oct general election	Glasgow Garscadden		19,737	50.9	1
1974 Oct general election	Leeds West		20,669	49.6	1
1974 Oct general election	Newton		38,956	53.3	1
1974 Oct general election	Paisley		21,368	44.8	1
1974 Oct general election	Rochdale		17,339	36.8	2
1974 Oct general election	St Pancras North		14,155	58.5	1
1974 Oct general election	Salford West		17,112	57.2	1
1974 Oct general election	Tottenham		15,708	58.8	1
1974 Oct general election	Wallsend		37,180	58.1	1
1979 general election	Aberdeen North		26,771	59.3	1
1979 general election	Bradford North		25,069	50.9	1
1979 general election	Burnley		20,172	50.8	1
1979 general election	Chorley		28,546	43.0	2
1979 general election	Consett		26,708	61.3	1
1979 general election	Coventry North East		27,010	57.3	1
1979 general election	Doncaster		22,184	48.9	1
1979 general election	Gateshead East		28,776	61.2	1
1979 general election	Hackney North and Stoke Newington		14,688	51.6	1
1979 general election	Kilmarnock		25,718	52.6	1
1979 general election	Leeds West		21,290	49.4	1
1979 general election	Manchester Blackley		20,346	50.4	1
1979 general election	Newton		41,466	51.4	1
1979 general election	Rochdale		16,878	34.3	2
1979 general election	St Pancras North		14,556	54.2	1
1979 general election	Salford West		18,411	61.5	1
1979 general election	Tottenham		16,299	56.9	1
1979 general election	Wallsend		38,214	55.1	1
1983 general election	Aberdeen North		19,262	47.0	1
1983 general election	Coventry North East		22,190	47.8	1
1983 general election	Doncaster Central		21,154	42.0	1
1983 general election	Edinburgh Leith		16,177	39.7	1
1983 general election	Gateshead East		22,981	48.3	1
1983 general election	Hackney North and Stoke Newington		18,989	52.0	1
1983 general election	Kilmarnock and Loudoun		20,250	43.6	1
1983 general election	Leeds West		15,860	34.0	2
1983 general election	Manchester Blackley		20,132	48.1	1
1983 general election	St Helens North		25,334	47.9	1
1983 general election	Salford East		21,373	53.7	1
1983 general election	Tottenham		22,423	52.0	1
1983 general election	Wallsend		26,615	50.1	1
1985 by-election	Tyne Bridge		13,517	57.8	1
1986 by-election	Knowsley North		17,403	56.3	1
1987 general election	Aberdeen North		24,145	54.7	1
1987 general election	Bury North		21,186	37.8	2
1987 general election	Caithness and Sutherland		3,437	14.9	3
1987 general election	Doncaster Central		26,266	51.2	1
1987 general election	Edinburgh Leith		21,104	49.3	1
1987 general election	Feltham and Heston		22,325	37.4	2
1987 general election	Glasgow Pollok		23,239	63.1	1
1987 general election	Kilmarnock and Loudoun		23,713	48.5	1
1987 general election	Knowsley North		27,454	69.9	1
1987 general election	Manchester Blackley		22,476	52.4	1
1987 general election	St Helens North		28,989	53.7	1
1987 general election	Salford East		22,555	58.8	1
1987 general election	Sheffield Central		25,872	67.7	1
1987 general election	Sheffield Heeley		28,425	53.4	1
1987 general election	Tyne Bridge		23,131	63.0	1
1987 general election	Wallsend		32,709	56.8	1
1992 general election	Aberdeen North		18,845	47.0	1
1992 general election	Bolton North East		21,459	44.5	2
1992 general election	Doncaster Central		27,795	54.3	1
1992 general election	Glasgow Pollok		14,170	43.4	1
1992 general election	Kilmarnock and Loudoun		22,210	44.8	1
1992 general election	Knowsley North		27,517	77.5	1
1992 general election	Manchester Blackley		23,031	60.2	1
1992 general election	Rotherham		27,933	63.9	1
1992 general election	Salford East		20,327	60.0	1
1992 general election	Sheffield Central		22,764	68.7	1
1992 general election	Sheffield Heeley		28,005	55.7	1
1992 general election	St Helens North		31,930	57.9	1
1992 general election	Tyne Bridge		22,328	67.2	1

Leadership

General Secretaries

;AEU
;AEF/AUEW
;AEU