Australian Manufacturing Workers Union

Infobox Union
name= AMWU
country= Australia
affiliation= ACTU
members= 144,000
full_name= Automotive, Food, Metals, Engineering, Printing and Kindred Industries Union
native_name=


founded= 1995
current=
head=
dissolved_date=
dissolved_state=
merged_into=
office= Granville, New South Wales
people= flagicon|UK Dave Oliver, national secretary
website= [http://www.amwu.asn.au/ www.amwu.asn.au]
footnotes=

The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, or more fully, the Automotive, Food, Metals, Engineering, Printing and Kindred Industries Union (AMWU) ("The Metalworkers") is an Australian trade union that is registered with the Australian Industrial Relations Commission and is affiliated with the Australian Council of Trade Unions. The AMWU is considered to be a left-wing union by the trade union movement. It has a number of subdivisions: Vehicle division, Metal and Engineering division, the Food and Confectionery division, the Technical, Supervisory and Administrative division (for white collar workers) and the Printing division. The AMWU has membership coverage over most workers in Australia's manufacturing industry.

History

Today's AMWU was formed in 1995 as a result of recent amalgamations. The AMWU has a trade union history that goes back to 1857 and the Eureka Stockade in Ballarat.

Printing Division

In 1917 the "Printing Industries Employees Union of Australia" (PIEUA) registered federally. In 1966 it changed its name to the "Printing and Kindred Industries Union" (PKIU) when it merged with the "Amalgamated Printing Trades Employees' Union of Australia". In 1986 the PKIU merged with the Federated Photo Engravers, and in 1992 with the Victorian Printers Operatives' Union. In 1995 the PKIU became the Printing Division of the AMWU.

Western Australian Branch on the PIEUA

In 1888 the "Western Australian Typographical Society" formed. This union changed its name in 1900 to the "Western Australian Typographical Industrial Union of Workers" and became the Western Australian branch of the Printing Industries Employees Union of Australia in 1916.

Victorian Branch of the PIEUA

The formation of the Victorian branch of the PIEUA only occurred in 1921 due to disputes between the small craft unions in the printing trade.
*The "Victorian Typographical Society" merged to become part of the PIEUA Victorian branch.
*The "Australian Bookbinders & Paper Rulers' Association" is believed to have formed around 1878, and merged to become part of the PIEUA Victorian branch.
*The "Ballarat Typographical Society" formed in 1857. It was a small and conservative group, which avoided amalgamations until it merged to become part of the PIEUA Victorian branch.

Victorian Printers Operatives' Union

The "Victorian Printers Operatives' Union" was registered in 1987, but existed well before this date as the "Printing Trades General Workers' Union". This union merged with the PKIU in 1992.

Federated Photo Engravers Photo-Lithographers & Photogravure Employees' Association of Australia

The Federated Photo Engravers were active from 1910 as a smalled union of skilled workers in South Australian and Victorian newspaper officers. They registered federally in 1942 as "Federated Process Engravers Photo-Lithographers & Photogravure Employees’ Association of Australia". They were then deregistered in 1943, and then reregistered under the same name in 1943. It changed its name to the "Federated Photo Engravers Photo-Lithographers & Photogravure Employees' Association of Australia" in 1952. In 1986 it merged with the PKIU.

Food and Confectionery division

Around 1898 a union of jam sauce and pickle workers formed, but only registered in 1911 as the "Jam Sauce Pickle & Food Preserving Employees' Union of Australia". In 1916 it changed its name to the "Amalgamated Food Preserving Employees' Union of Australia." The union was insignificant in organising food workers until 1922, when it was reorganised under the leadership of Percy Clarey, a Victorian. The union changed its name again in 1929 to the "Food Preservers' Union of Australia". While it had fluctuating membership due to the seasonal nature of canning work, the union was one of the few which maintained a strong presence in rural Australia. In 1992 the union merged with the "Confectionery Workers' Union".

In 1925 the "Federated Confectioners Association of Australia" registered with the AIRC. In 1986 they changed their name to the "Confectionery Workers Union of Australia". In 1992 it merged with the "Food Preservers Union of Australia" to form the "Confectionery Workers & Food Preservers Union of Australia". This new union then amalgamated with the "Automotive Metals & Engineering Union" in 1994 to form the "Automotive Food Metals & Engineering Union".

Vehicle division

In the late 1890s the Coach-Makers' society was formed as a union in the horse-drawn coach building industry. In 1917 it registered as the "Australian Coach Motor Car Tram Car Waggon Builders Wheelwrights and Rolling Stock Makers Employees' Federation". In 1930 it reregistered under the even more cumbersome name of the "Australian Coach Motor Car Tram Car Waggon Builders Wheelwrights & Air Craft Rolling Stock Makers Employees’ Federation". In 1938 it changed its name to the much simpler "Vehicle Builders Employees' Federation". In 1993 the "Vehicle Builders Employees Federation of Australia" merged with the "Metals & Engineering Workers Union" to form the "Automotive Metals & Engineering Union".

Until a more extensive history is written, please see the Australian Trade Union Archive entry listed below.

Metal and Engineering division

In 1991 the "Amalgamated Metal Workers' Union" merged with the "Association of Draughting Supervisory & Technical Employees" to form the "Metals & Engineering Workers’ Union" In 1993 the "Metals & Engineering Workers' Union" merged with the "Vehicle Builders Employees Federation of Australia" for form the "Automotive Metals & Engineering Union".

Association of Draughting Supervisory & Technical Employees

In 1918 the "Commonwealth Public Service Artisans Association" was registered. It changed its name in 1975 to the "Australian Public Service Artisans Association" which then merged in 1986 with the "Association of Draughting Supervisory and Technical Employees".

In Brisbane in 1915 the "Association of Architects Engineers Surveyors and Draughtsmen of Australia" (AAESDA) was formed. It registered in Queensland in 1917. In 1944, with brances in Victoria and New South Wales, AAESDA achieved federal registration. In 1948 it took over members from the deregistered "Australian Association of Draughtsmen", and in 1971 took oer members from the deregistered "Federation of Scientific and Technical Workers". The union changed its name in 1981 to the "Association of Draughting Supervisory and Technical Employees" (ADSTE). In 1986 it amalgataed with the "Australian Public Service Artisans' Association", and again in 1991 with the "Amalgamated Metal Workers' Union" to form the "Metals and Engineering Workers' Union".

Amalgamated Metal Workers' Union

In 1851 the British "Amalgamated Engineering Union" established a branch in Australia. This branch registered in 1905 as the "Amalgamated Society of Engineers". It changed its name in 1921 to the "Amalgamated Engineering Union", which was deregistered in February 1938. A replacement, the "Amalgamated Engineering Union (Australian Section)" was formed in 1938. The union remained a section of the British "Amalgamated Engineering Union" until 1969. After 1969 the union changed its name to the "Amalgamated Engineering Union" (AEU). In June 1972 the AEU merged with the "Sheet Metal Workers", "Blacksmiths & Boilermakers" and "Federated Jewellers", forming the "Amalgamated Metal Workers' Union" (AMWU) in 1973. The AMWU merged in 1976 with the "Federated Shipwrights"' (forming the "Amalgamated Metal Workers & Shipwrights Union") and in 1983 with the "Federated Moulders' (Metals) Union" (forming the "Amalgamated Metals Foundry & Shipwrights Union "). In 1985 the union changed its name to the "Amalgamated Metal Workers' Union" again.

Federated Moulders (Metals) Union of Australia

A small Australia-wide union of skilled tradesmen occupying a strategic position in Australian engineering with strong links to the mining and railway industry. It was formed through the amalgamation of several state unions in 1899 although it did not gain federal recognition until 1916

Federated Shipwrights & Ship Constructors Association of Australia

This small, skilled union whose members specialised in ship construction and ship repair, was first registered federally in January 1916 as the Federated Shipwrights of Australia. Just a few months later, in September 1916, it changed to the Federated Shipwrights' Ship Constructors' & Boat Builders' Association of Australia. By the end of 1917, in what was a tumultuous period, the union had changed again, this time to the Federated Shipwrights Ship Constructors Naval Architects Ships Draughtsmen and Boat Builders of Australia. This union operated until 1933 when it succumbed to a further name change: the Federated Shipwrights’ & Ship Constructors’ Association of Australia. Operating until 1976 the Federated Shipwrights’ & Ship Constructors’ Association amalgamated with the Amalgamated Metal Workers’ Union to form the Amalgamated Metal Workers’ & Shipwrights’ Union. When the Federated Moulders’ (Metals) Union amalgamated in 1983, the union changed slightly to the Amalgamated Metals Foundry & Shipwrights’ Union, but in 1985 reverted back to the Amalgamated Metal Workers’ Union. A 1991 amalgamation with the Association of Draughting Supervisory & Technical Employees created the Metals & Engineering Workers’ Union. Two years later a further amalgamation with the Vehicle Builders Employees’ Federation of Australia resulted in the Automotive Metals & Engineering Union. Finally in 1994 this union merged with the Confectionery Workers' & Food Preservers’ Union to form the Automotive Food Metals & Engineering Union

External links

* [http://www.amwu.asn.au/ Official Website]
* [http://www.atua.org.au/biogs/ALE0977b.htm Australian Trade Union Archive entry for AMWU]