Founded 1872 Members 10,000 (1979) Country United Kingdom | Date dissolved 1984 Key people George Buchanan | |
Merged into Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers-Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section | ||
The United Patternmakers Association was a trade union in the United Kingdom.
The association was founded in 1872 to represent skilled patternmakers in England, following a strike by patternmakers along the River Tyne and River Wear for a nine-hour day. Originally based in London, it transferred its headquarters to Manchester in 1896, to Leeds in 1903, then to Eccles in 1908, returning to London in 1912. The Associated Patternmakers of Scotland union merged into it in 1912.
During the 1930s, George Buchanan was the union's president, and the union focussed considerable attention on anti-fascist activity. It was initially sympathetic to the Independent Labour Party's split from the Labour Party, although by 1935 Buchanan's union backing was withdrawn. It retained a strong craft unionist approach, and resisted the prevailing trend of admitting workers in allied trades.
In 1969, the union renamed itself the Association of Patternmakers and Allied Craftsmen. By 1979, its membership stood just under 10,000, mostly in the English Midlands. Only three members were women. In 1984, it merged into the Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section.