Editing Amalgamated Marine Workers' Union

{{short description|Former trade union of the United Kingdom}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2018}}
{{Infobox union
|name         = Amalgamated Marine Workers' Union
|location_country= [[United Kingdom]]
|affiliation  =[[Trades Union Congress|TUC]]
|members      =12,000 (1922)
|full_name    = Amalgamated Marine Workers' Union
|native_name  = 
|image        = 
|founded      = 1922
|headquarters = 41 [[Gower Street, London|Gower Street]], London
|dissolved    = 1927
|merged_label = Dissolved
|merged       = 
|key_people   = [[Joe Cotter]] (General Secretary)<br/>[[Manny Shinwell]] (National Organiser).
|footnotes    = 
}}

The '''Amalgamated Marine Workers' Union''' (AMWU) was a [[trade union]] of [[sailor]]s, [[Firefighter|firemen]] and ship-board service personnel which existed in the [[United Kingdom]] between 1922 and 1927.

It was a merger of the [[British Seafarers' Union]] and the [[National Union of Ship's Stewards]], both of which were opposed to the principal trade union in the shipping industry, the [[National Union of Seamen|National Sailors' and Firemen's Union]].

At the outset, the AMWU expressed an ambition to replace the NSFU and ultimately to become part of the recently established [[Transport and General Workers Union]]. But several factors limited the union's effectiveness. It faced resistance from both the NSFU and the [[Shipping Federation]], which collaborated through the [[National Maritime Board]] to control access to employment in the shipping industry. The AMWU also suffered from severe internal divisions.

In 1923 and 1925, the AMWU once again found itself unsuccessfully resisting wage reductions. In the latter instance, its effectiveness was limited by the refusal of its general secretary ([[Joe Cotter]]) to sign cheques, and the consequent impossibility of accessing union funds. The union also lost ground at this time to the Seamen's Section of the National Minority Movement (formed 1924), which attracted many of those seafarers who were most determined to resist the reductions. The Minority Movement, which was sponsored by the [[Communist Party of Great Britain|Communist Party]] and included black activist seafarers in this xenophobic period, was suspicious of the AMWU. Such activists regarded the AMWU as a sectional organisation.

In 1926, a former member of the [[National Union of Ship's Stewards]] launched a legal challenge to the union's status, alleging that the ballot which brought about the merger of the two organisations had not been properly conducted. The AMWU lost this challenge and, as a result, was unable to access its funds. Despite the efforts of its National Organiser, [[Manny Shinwell]], the AMWU was wound up in early 1927.

==References==
* Arthur Marsh & Victoria Ryan, ''The Seamen&nbsp;— a history of the National Union of Seamen'', (Oxford, 1989).
* Arthur Marsh & Victoria Ryan, ''Historical Directory of Trade Unions:Vol 3'', (Aldershot, 1987).
* [[Ken Coates]] & [[Tony Topham]], ''The Making of the Labour Movement'', (Nottingham, 1994) {{ISBN|0-85124-565-X}}
* Basil Modridge, ''[https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-review-of-social-history/article/militancy-and-interunion-rivalries-in-british-shipping-191119291/4C901EE91E8522091850608D9A3CE796 Militancy and Inter-Union Rivalries in British Shipping]'' (1911–1929)

==External links==
* [http://www.warwick.ac.uk/services/library/mrc/ead/175AMW.htm AMWU Archive, Modern Records Centre]

{{Portal|Organized labour}}

[[Category:Defunct trade unions of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Seafarers' trade unions]]
[[Category:Water transport in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:1922 establishments in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Trade unions established in 1922]]
[[Category:Trade unions disestablished in 1927]]
[[Category:Trade unions based in London]]