National Association of Local Government Officers

National Association of Local Government Officers

The National and Local Government Officers Association (NALGO) was a British trade union representing mostly local government "white collar" workers. It was one of three unions which combined to form UNISON in 1993.

Name

The National Association of Local Government Officers was founded in 1905. In 1952 its full name changed to the National "And" Local Government Officers Association, while still retaining the acronym NALGO.

History

NALGO was formed as an association of local guilds of municipal officers. The main impetus came from Herbert Blain (1870-1942), later to become national agent for the Conservative Party. Blain had formed the first local guild in Liverpool in 1896 and, on moving to London, arranged the national conference in 1905 at which NALGO was formed. In 1909, the first full-time General Secretary, Levi Hill (1883-1961), was appointed, and by 1914 NALGO’s membership included almost 70% of all British local government officers.

Blain and Hill organised NALGO with a national delegate conference and regional and local branch structures. Its first aims were the setting up of a pension scheme; the improvement of the pay, conditions and status of local government officers; the abolition of nepotism (at the time rife in local government); and the welfare of members and their families.

In 1917, a parliamentary committee chaired by J.H.Whitley MP recommended setting up joint committees of employers and workers throughout industry for consultations on pay and working conditions, and in 1919 the first Whitley Council for local government was formed on NALGO’s insistence. After a prolonged process of negotiations, NALGO and the employers agreed a national charter of pay scales in local government in 1946.

Although Hill had previously remarked that "anything savouring of trade unionism is nausea to the local government officer", NALGO registered as a trade union (but not a member of the TUC) in 1920. It finally became a TUC affiliate, after many years of fractious internal argument, in 1964.

Levi Hill retired as General Secretary in 1943, and was replaced by John Simonds. Subsequent General Secretaries included John Warren, Walter Anderson, Geoffrey Drain, John Daly and Alan Jinkinson.

Membership continued to grow rapidly, reaching some 100,000 by 1940 and 300,000 by 1964. It amalgamated with various smaller unions including the National Association of Poor Law Officers in 1930 and the British Gas Staff Association in 1963. With the growth in membership in sectors outside local government such as health, gas and electricity, the union changed its full name in 1952.

As the public sector expanded in importance through the 1950s-70s, and British Government legislation such as the Industrial Relations Act 1971 simultaneously sought to curb trade union powers, some parts of the union became more radicalised. NALGO organised its first official strike in Leeds in 1970, and its first national strike, of social workers, was in 1978/79. It also led the way as a campaigning organisation over equal pay and wider equality and international issues. Total membership rose to over 700,000 by 1977, by which time it was by far the largest UK public sector union.

After the election of the Thatcher government in 1979, NALGO organised strongly in opposition to many of its policies, in particular privatisation, deregulation, and restructuring with the introduction of market mechanisms in local government, education, and the National Health Service.

At the same time, at local level in much of the country many members maintained the old idea of NALGO as a staff association, and this explains why many so-called "NALGO" social clubs, sports teams and so on remain to this day. NALGO provided a wide range of benefits for its members, including one of the first holiday camps at Croyde in north Devon and shortly afterwards a second, larger camp at Cayton Bay near Scarborough. (Cayton Bay was sold in 1976 but Croyde Bay is still owned and run by UNISON, NALGO's successor).

NALGO merged with NUPE (the National Union of Public Employees) and COHSE (the Confederation of Health Service Employees) in 1993 to form UNISON.

ources

*Alec Spoor (1967) "White Collar Union – sixty years of NALGO"
*George Newman (1982) "Path To Maturity – NALGO 1965-1980"
*Mike Ironside and Roger Seifert (2001) "Facing Up to Thatcherism: The History of NALGO 1979-93"

External links

* [http://www.unionancestors.co.uk/NALGO.htm A short history of NALGO] on the [http://www.unionancestors.co.uk Trade Union Ancestors] website. Includes a list of all national presidents, treasurers, general secretaries and executive committee members from 1905 to 1967
* [http://www.unison.org.uk/ UNISON]
* [http://www.warwick.ac.uk/services/library/mrc/ead/020nal.htm Archive of NALGO papers]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Jamaica Association of Local Government Officers — Infobox Union name= JALGO full name= Jamaica Association of Local Government Officers founded= November 16, 1940 country= Jamaica office= Kingston people= website= affiliation= Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions members= 5,000 native name=… …   Wikipedia

  • National and Local Government Officers Association — National Association of Local Government Officers Full name National and Local Government Officers Association Founded 1905 Date dissolved 1993 Country United Kingdom …   Wikipedia

  • Local government in England — Councils in England are based in buildings such as the Manchester Town Hall. The pattern of local government in England is complex, with the distribution of functions varying according to the local arrangements. Legislation concerning local… …   Wikipedia

  • Local Government Association — The Local Government Association is a body for advancing the interests of local authorities in England and WalesThe LGA has its Head Office at Local Government House (formerly Transport House) in Smith Square, Westminster. Its members are various …   Wikipedia

  • National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors — (NATOA) is an American national trade association based in Alexandria, VA. The stated purpose of the organization is to assist with the communications needs and interests of local governments, and those who advise local governments. The… …   Wikipedia

  • National Association for the Advancement of Colored People — Abbreviation NAACP …   Wikipedia

  • National Association of Letter Carriers — NALC Full name National Association of Letter Carriers Founded 1889 Members 300,000 Country United States …   Wikipedia

  • Local government in Fiji — Fiji This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Fiji Government Executive President ( …   Wikipedia

  • National Association of Real Estate Brokers — The National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB) was formed July 29, 1947, making it the oldest minority trade association in America.[1] NAREB was established by African American real estate professionals as an alternative for African… …   Wikipedia

  • National Association of Towns and Townships — The National Association of Towns and Townships (NATaT ) is an American lobbying or advocacy group of officials and employees of small government units across the United States. Based in Washington, DC, it seeks to influence regulators and… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”