Irish Transport and General Workers' Union: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 23:12, 8 February 2018

Revision as of 07:18, 11 May 2018

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{{Infobox union

| name = Irish Transport and General Workers' Union

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| merged_into = [[SIPTU]]

| members =

| country = [[Ireland]]

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| affiliation =

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The '''Irish Transport and General Workers Union''' (ITGWU), an [[Ireland|Irish]] [[trade union]], was founded by [[James Larkin]] in January 1909 as a general union.<ref>[http://www.irishlabourhistorysociety.com/index.php?page=tu_hist&title=History%20of%20Trade%20Unions History of Trade Unions], Irish Labour History Society. Retrieved 1 June 2013-06-01.</ref><ref>[http://www.nli.ie/pdfs/mss%20lists/itgwu.pdf Irish Transport and General Workers' Union papers], National Library of Ireland. Retrieved 1 June 2013-06-01.</ref> Initially drawing its membership from branches of the [[Liverpool]]-based [[National Union of Dock Labourers]], from which Larkin had been expelled, it grew to include workers in a range of industries. The ITGWU logo was the [[Red Hand of Ulster]], which is synonymous with ancient [[Gael]]ic [[Ulster]].

The ITGWU was at the centre of the [[syndicalist]]-inspired [[Dublin Lockout]] in 1913, the events of which left a lasting impression on the union and hence on the Irish [[Labour Movement]].

After Larkin's departure for the [[United States]] in 1914 in the wake of the Lockout, [[James Connolly]] led the ITGWU until his execution in 1916 in the wake of the [[Easter Rising]]. In turn, [[William X. O'Brien]] became the union's leading figure, and ultimately served as general secretary for many years. Throughout World War I, the ITGWU consistently opposed Irish belligerence, and staunchly supported the advanced nationalist cause. In fact, ITGWU members, in the uniform of the Irish Citizen Army, played a leading role in the Easter Rising, while the Transport Union led a national strike that crippled an attempt to introduce conscription to Ireland in 1918.<ref>Phelan, Mark, 'World War I and the Legacy of the Dublin Lockout, 1914-19161914–1916', in Éire-Ireland (Winter, 2016)</ref>

In 1923, Larkin formed a new union, the [[Workers' Union of Ireland]], to which many of the ITGWU's [[Dublin]] members affiliated.<ref>[http://www.nli.ie/pdfs/mss%20lists/itgwu.pdf Irish Transport and General Workers' Union papers], National Library of Ireland. Retrieved 1 June 2013-06-01.</ref> The ITGWU nevertheless remained the dominant force in Irish [[trade unionism]], especially outside the capital. William O'Brien and James Larkin remained bitter personal enemies, and when Larkin and his supporters were readmitted into the [[Labour Party (Ireland)|Labour Party]] in the early 1940s, O'Brien engineered a split in the party, with the new [[National Labour Party (Ireland)|National Labour Party]] claiming that the main party had been infiltrated by [[communist]]s. A further split occurred in the [[Irish Trade Union Congress]] when that body accepted the WUI's membership in 1945. The ITGWU left the Congress and established the rival [[Congress of Irish Unions]].

From the 1950s on proposals to merge the two unions were floated. Finally, in 1990, the ITGWU merged with the Workers's Union of Ireland to form [[SIPTU]] (Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union).<ref>[http://www.siptu.ie/aboutsiptu/history/ SIPTU about page.]. Retrieved 1 June 2013-06-01.</ref>

The ITGWU should not be confused with the [[United Kingdom|British]]-based [[Transport and General Workers Union]], which organised in Ireland under the name ''Amalgamated Transport and General Workers Union'' (ATGWU) and is now [[Unite the union]].

==Mergers==

The union absorbed numerous smaller trade unions:<ref>Arthur Marsh and John B. Smethurst, ''Historical Directory of Trade Unions'', vol.5, pp.465-467465–467</ref>

:1914: Dublin Coal Factors' Association

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:1983: [[Christy Kirwan]]

===General Presidentspresidents===

:1909: [[Thomas Foran]]

:1939: [[Tom Kennedy (trade unionist)|Tom Kennedy]]

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:1981: [[John Carroll (trade unionist)|John Carroll]]

===Vice -Presidents===

:1924: [[Tom Kennedy (trade unionist)|Tom Kennedy]]

:1940: [[William McMullen]]