The
Clerks Union was formed in 1890 and later was renamed as the
National Union of Clerks. Then, following rapid growth and amalgamation with several other unions, the name was again changed to the
National Union of Clerks and Administrative Workers (
NUCAW) with a membership of around 40,000. In 1940, NUCAW merged with the
Association of Women Clerks and Secretaries (AWCS) to form the '''Clerical and Administrative Workers' Union
(CAWU'''). The union organised in the
white-collar sector in the
City of London and across the country, and had particular success in recruiting in the
engineering industry. In the 1960s its membership grew rapidly, but it was less successful in the 1970s, membership increasing by 18%, while that of its rival, the
Association of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staffs (ASTMS), nearly doubled. The union changed its name to the Association of Professional, Executive, Clerical and Computer Staff (APEX) in 1972. It was the union at the centre of the
Grunwick dispute in the 1970s. APEX, like its predecessors, was an
affiliated trade union of the British
Labour Party and was a key influence on the right wing of the Party, particularly as, until 1972, it enforced a rule preventing
communists from holding positions in the union. Its relations with other unions were often difficult, as it competed not only with the ASTMS for members, but also with the
National Union of Bank Employees and various
general unions. In particular, a dispute over members at
General Accident was referred to the
Trades Union Congress Disputes Committee and the fall-out led to APEX's general secretary,
Roy Grantham, failing to win re-election to the
General Council of the TUC. In 1989 APEX merged with the
GMB trade union and now exists as a section within the GMB. ==Election results==