Trade Unions
Our Trade Union records are predominantly local branches of unions for the industries represented in the business collections. They are an excellent complementary resource for the official business records, particularly those with staffing and employment records.
We tend only to collect records relating to either Nottinghamshire branches of unions or those from industries with a particularly strong presence in the region.
Access to modern Trade Union collections is restricted due to the highly personal and confidential nature of some of the records. Please contact us for further advice.
Records of the Trade Unions
The records of trade unions range from a handful of items to significant collections running to many hundreds of volumes or boxes. The core of most of the collections is the minutes, but many also contain runs of accounts and official correspondence with employers, trade associations and other official bodies. Less frequently present are the annual reports and other printed materials, for example relating to membership or union activity. A few of the collections contain photographs of official functions or industrial action, and other ephemeral material.
- Records of the United Commercial Travellers' Associations in Nottinghamshire, 1908-1975 (catalogue record)
- Records of the Nottingham and District Hosiery Finishers Association, 1874-1956 (catalogue record)
- Records of the Amalgamated Society of Operative Lace Makers and Auxiliary Workers, 1851-1973 (catalogue record)
- Records of the Ilkeston Lodge of the National Union of Blastfurnacemen, Ore Miners, Coke Workers and Kindred Trades, 1942-1953 (catalogue record)
- Records of the Beeston branch of the National Union of Railwaymen, 1904-1984 (catalogue record)
- Records of the Nottingham and District Trades Union Council, 1883-2002 (catalogue record)
- Minutes, Reports and Related Papers of the Tobacco Workers Union No. 4 (Nottingham) District, 1862-1968 (catalogue record)
- Records of the Amalgamated Society of Woodworkers, Nottingham District, 1920-1953 (catalogue record)
- Records of the Wholesale Textile Association, 1912-1964, and the Textile Distributors Association, 1964-2001; 1895-2000 (catalogue record)
We hold published versions of the following, which can be found on the library catalogue:
- Minutes of the Union of Democratic Mineworkers, 1986-1889, 1992
- Nottinghamshire Miner, the newspaper of the Union of Democratic Mineworkers, 1986-1992
- Minutes of the National Union of Mineworkers, 1951-1984
Records relating to industrial relations and disputes
- Papers of Eric S. Mosley, economist and industrial relations manager, 1929-1967 (catalogue record)
- Newspapers relating to the General Strike of 1926 and the Press Strike of 1955; 1926-1955 (catalogue record)
- Records concerning industrial relations at Wearmouth Coal Company Ltd of County Durham, 1925-1946 (catalogue record)
- Papers of Barry Johnson (1931-2020), President of Chesterfield and District Trades Union Council and trustee of Derbyshire Unemployed Workers' Centre; 1930s-2000s (catalogue record)
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