National Union of Boot and Shoe Operatives

The National Union of Boot and Shoe Operatives (NUBSO) was a trade union in the United Kingdom which existed between 1873 and 1971. It represented workers in the footwear industry.

NUBSO

National Union of Boot and Shoe Operatives
Merged into	National Union of Footwear, Leather and Allied Trades
Founded	1873
Dissolved	1971
Headquarters	The Grange, Earls Barton, Northamptonshire
Location	United Kingdom
Members	100,000 (1920)[1]
Affiliations	TUC, ITUC, Labour, ISLWF

History

The union was founded in 1873, when many riveters and finishers left the Amalgamated Society of Boot and Shoe Makers. They were dissatisfied by their low status within the old union, and instead formed the National Union of Boot and Shoe Rivetters and Finishers (NUBSRF).^[1] Membership in Leicester grew rapidly, with the next largest branches being Glasgow, London and Stafford. In total, by 1877, the union had about 4,000 members.^[2]

A few women joined the union in the late 1880s, making it the first union outside the textile trades to admit both men and women. At this point, membership in the important shoe making centre of Northampton was low, with only about 600 of 15,000 shoe workers in the town holding union membership. That year, a five-week lock-out of members resulted in a settlement favourable to the union. This brought in hundreds of new members, and by the end of the year, its national membership reached 10,000.^[2] The General Union of Clickers and Rough-stuff Cutters merged into the NUBSRF in 1892, but most of its members left again in 1895.^[1]

During the late 1880s and early 1890s, socialists came to prominence in the union. They led campaigns against sweatshop working and outworking, where people worked from their own homes and were paid by item completed.^[3] Under their influence, the union organised a 34-week strike in 1897, in support of a minimum wage and a 54-hour week, but this was unsuccessful.^[1]

In 1897, the union renamed itself as the "National Union of Boot and Shoe Operatives", and joined the General Federation of Trade Unions the following year. Membership rose over 100,000 by 1920, although it soon fell to around 80,000.^[1] Members in the Republic of Ireland left in 1953, to form the Irish Shoe and Leather Workers' Union.^[4]

A major decline in the British shoe-making industry led the union to merge with the Amalgamated Society of Leather Workers, the National Union of Glovers and Leather Workers and the National Union of Leather Workers and Allied Trades in 1971, forming National Union of Footwear, Leather and Allied Trades.^[1]

Election results

The union was affiliated to the Labour Party, and sponsored numerous Parliamentary candidates, many of whom won election.

Election	Constituency	Candidate	Votes	% share	Position
1906 general election	Wolverhampton West	Thomas Frederick Richards	6,767	50.9	1[5]
1910 Jan general election	Bristol East	Frank Sheppard	1,874	31.2	2
	Wolverhampton West	Thomas Frederick Richards	5,790	47.6	2
1918 general election	Wellingborough	Walter Smith	10,290	52.5	1[6]
1922 general election	Eccles	John Buckle	14,354	51.4	1[7]
	Leicester West	Alfred Hill	12,929	45.0	1[7]
	Wellingborough	Walter Smith	11,057	42.4	2[7]
	Wells	Len Smith	4,048	18.9	3[7]
1923 general election	Daventry	Len Smith	4,127	17.5	3[6]
	Eccles	John Buckle	12,267	42.7	1[6]
	Norwich	Walter Smith	20,077	20.9	1[6]
1924 general election	Eccles	John Buckle	14,354	51.4	1[6]
	Norwich	Walter Smith	23,808	22.9	3[6]
1929 general election	Altrincham	Alfred Dobbs	9,242	16.4	3[8]
	Frome	Frederick Gould	18,524	45.5	1[8]
	Norwich	Walter Smith	33,690	26.0	2[8]
	Nottingham East	James Baum	9,787	28.0	3[8]
	Stafford	Len Smith	10,011	36.6	2[8]
1931 general election	Frome	Frederick Gould	17,748	41.7	2[9]
	Kingston upon Hull North West	James Baum	9,946	27.3	2[9]
	Leeds North East	Alfred Dobbs	10,294	24.5	2[9]
	Norwich	Walter Smith	28,295	21.0	3[9]
	Stafford	Len Smith	8,640	31.9	2[9]
1935 general election	Kilmarnock	James Crawford	12,558	33.4	2[10]
	Leeds North East	Alfred Dobbs	14,080	35.2	2[10]
	Leicester East	Frederick Gould	17,532	42.6	2[10]
1945 general election	Bosworth	Arthur Allen	26,151	55.6	1[11]
	Burton	Arthur W. Lyne	18,288	51.1	1[11]
	Harborough	Humphrey Attewell	23,353	42.5	1[11]
	Smethwick	Alfred Dobbs	20,522	65.9	1[11]
1950 general election	Bosworth	Arthur Allen	29,282	53.6	1[12]
	Harborough	Humphrey Attewell	21,381	38.2	2[12]
1951 general election	Bosworth	Arthur Allen	30,767	57.1	1[13]
1966 general election	Bridgwater	Richard Mayer	17,864	38.1	2[14]

Leadership

General Secretaries

1874: Thomas Smith

1878: George Sedgwick

1886: William Inskip

1899: W. Boyd Hornidge

1908: Edward L. Poulton

1930: George Chester

1949: Lionel Poole

1960: Richard Gregson

1968: T. A. Moore

General Presidents

1878: Edward Kell

1890: T. Horrabin

1892: Jabez Leedham

1892: John Judge

1893: W. Boyd Hornidge

1899: Charles Freak

1910: Thomas Frederick Richards

1930: W. R. Townley

1938: Len Smith

1944: James Crawford

1957: Sydney Robinson

References

1. "National Union of Boot and Shoe Operatives", Trade Union Ancestors
2. Fox, Alan (1958). A History of the National Union of Boot and Shoe Operatives: 1874-1957. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. pp. 75, 102–103.
3. Fox, Alan (1958). A History of the National Union of Boot and Shoe Operatives: 1874-1957. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. pp. 105–117.
4. John B. Smethurst and Peter Carter, Historical directory of trade unions, vol.6, p.101
5. Frank Bealey and Henry Pelling, Labour and Politics, 1900-1906, pp.290-292
6. Fox, Alan (1958). A History of the National Union of Boot and Shoe Operatives. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. p. 462.
7. Labour Party, Report of the Twenty-second Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp.255-272. Note that this list is of the sanctioned candidates as of June 1922, and there were some changes between this date and the general election.
8. "List of Labour Candidates and Election Results, May 30th, 1929". Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party: 24–44. 1929.
9. "List of Endorsed Labour Candidates and Election Results, October 27, 1931". Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party: 11–27. 1931.
10. "List of Endorsed Labour Candidates and Election Results, November 14, 1935". Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party: 8–23. 1935.
11. Labour Party, Report of the Forty-Fifth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp.232-248
12. "List of Parliamentary Labour candidates and election results, February 23rd, 1950". Report of the Forty-Ninth Annual Conference of the Labour Party: 179–198. 1950.
13. "List of Parliamentary Labour candidates and election results, 25th October, 1951". Report of the Fiftieth Annual Conference of the Labour Party: 184–203. 1951.
14. Labour Party, Report of the Sixty-Fifth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp.308-330

External links

• Catalogue of the NUBSO archives, held at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick