Shipconstructors' and Shipwrights' Association

The Shipconstructors' and Shipwrights' Association (SSA) was a trade union representing shipbuilders in the United Kingdom.

Shipconstructors' and Shipwrights' Association
Merged intoUnited Society of Boilermakers, Shipbuilders and Structural Workers
Founded1882
Dissolved1963
Headquarters8 Eldon Square, Newcastle upon Tyne
Location
  • United Kingdom
Members
19,350 (1907)[1]
AffiliationsTUC, CSEU, Labour

History

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The union was founded in 1882 as the Associated Society of Shipwrights, by eleven local unions in Scotland and North East England. Seven further unions in Scotland and North West England quickly joined the new association. The union changed its name to the Associated Shipwrights' Society, and gradually other unions around the UK affiliated.[2]

In 1908, the union merged with the Ship Constructive Association and the Amalgamated Society of Drillers and Hole Cutters, and renamed itself as the Ship Constructive and Shipwrights' Association, later changing this to the "Shipconstructors' and Shipwrights' Association". At the beginning of 1963, it merged with the United Society of Boilermakers, Shipbuilders and Structural Workers.[2]

Election results

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The union sponsored Labour Party candidates in several Parliamentary elections.[3]

Election Constituency Candidate Votes Percentage Position
1906 general election Chatham John Hagan Jenkins 6,692 62.5 1
Dundee Alexander Wilkie 6,833 23.3 2
1910 Jan general election Chatham John Hagan Jenkins 6,130 45.3 2
Dundee Alexander Wilkie 10,365 32.9 2
1910 Dec general election Dundee Alexander Wilkie 8,957 29.3 2
1918 general election Dundee Alexander Wilkie 24,822 36.1 2
Gillingham William Tapp 4,705 25.9 2
1922 general election Perth William Westwood 4,651 18.9 3[4]

General Secretaries

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1882: Alexander Wilkie
1928: Frank Purdy (acting)
1929: William Westwood
1945: John Willcocks
1948: Sydney Ombler
1958: Arthur Williams

References

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  1. ^ Report on Trade Unions in 1905-1907. London: Board of Trade. 1909. pp. 82–101.
  2. ^ a b Shipconstructors and Shipwrights Association, Working Class Movement Library
  3. ^ Dougan, David (1975). The Shipwrights. Newcastle: Frank Graham.
  4. ^ "Appendix III: List of sanctioned candidates, June, 1922". Report of the Twenty-second Annual Conference of the Labour Party: 116–126. 1922.

Further reading

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  • Dougan, David The shipwrights: a history of the Shipconstructors' and Shipwrights' Association, 1882–1963. Newcastle upon Tyne: Graham, 1975. ISBN 0859830438.
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