The union was founded in 1974, when the
Amalgamated Weavers' Association merged with the
National Union of Textile and Allied Workers. The
Amalgamated Textile Warehousemen's Association developed close links with the new union, and the two shared a general secretary. In 1983, the important
Burnley, Nelson, Rossendale and District Textile Workers' Union decided to leave the ATWU, and argued that as its largest affiliate, it should be entitled to a proportionate share of the union's funds. The ATWU disagreed, and the dispute went to the
High Court of England and Wales, which rejected the Burnley and Nelson union's claim. With widespread redundancies in the industry, the union lost two-thirds of its members before it merged into the
General, Municipal, Boilermakers and Allied Trades Union in 1985. Based in
Rochdale, the union's final general secretary was Jack Brown. ==Affiliates==