, 2005|267x267px office, 2007|300x300px The Transport and General Workers' Union structure combined regional organisation, based on Districts and Areas, with committee organisation by occupation, based on six broad Trade Groups. Trade groups were not closely linked to trades, but were elected by activists. Officials of the union were grouped by region, and could be asked to serve each or any trade group.
Docks Group The Docks Group was created in 1922 to represent members of the following unions: •
Dock, Wharf, Riverside and General Labourers' Union of Great Britain and Ireland •
South Side Labour Protection League (London, est. 1889) •
National Amalgamated Coal Workers' Union (London, est. 1889) •
National Amalgamated Labourers' Union (Cardiff, est. 1889) •
North of England Trimmers' and Teemers' Association (est. 1871) The group originally had a subsection for coal shipping. In 1928, it had 96,000 members, but over time, membership of the group declined along with employment on the docks, dropping to 56,000 in 1966, and had 51,153 in 1980.
Waterways Group The Waterways Group was created in 1922 to represent members of the
Amalgamated Society of Watermen, Lightermen and Bargemen. Always one of the smallest sections, it had only 8,000 members in 1928, and 16,000 in 1966. In 1970, it was merged into the Docks Group.
Administrative, Clerical and Supervisory Group The Administrative, Clerical and Supervisory Group was created in 1922 to represent members of the following unions: •
National Association of Ships' Clerks, Grain Weighers and Coalmeters •
National Union of Docks, Wharves and Shipping Staffs There was often ambiguity in the TGWU over the actual name of its white-collar section. From the 1960s it was generally known as ACTS (Administrative, Clerical, Technical and Supervisory) but also sometimes as the ACTSS (Association of Clerical, Technical and Supervisory Staff) and enamel union badges bearing both sets of initials were produced for members. It was noted for an enquiry by the Certification Office in 2006 into board members who had joined the union within six months of being elected to senior posts. The group grew significantly over time, having only 5,000 members in 1928, but 62,000 by 1966, and 149,801 members in 1980.
Road Transport (Passenger and Commercial) Groups The Road Transport group was created in 1922 to represent members of the following unions: • Amalgamated Association of Carters and Motormen (Leeds, est. 1916) •
Amalgamated Carters, Lurrymen and Motormen's Union (Bolton, est. 1890) • Associated Horsemen's Union (Greenock, est. 1894) •
National Union of Vehicle Workers • North of Scotland Horse and Motormen's Association (Dundee, 1911) •
United Vehicle Workers Later in 1922, the group was split into Road Transport (Passenger) and Road Transport (Commercial) groups. The Passenger group had 79,000 members in 1928 and 181,000 in 1966, but by 1980, the renamed Passenger Services group had dropped to only 44,501 members. The Commercial Services group rose from 37,000 members in 1928 to 219,000 in 1966, and 226,290 in 1980.
General Workers Group The General Workers Group was created in 1922 to cater for all workers in jobs which did not fall into another group. Initially, it had subsections for workers in metal and chemical trades. Once it was considered that a particular field had enough members to justify its own trade group, it was split out. These decisions were made at the Biennial Delegate Conference, and although there were many applications to form new trade groups, most were unsuccessful. The group had 68,000 members in 1928, and it then doubled in size when the
Workers' Union merged into the TGWU. By 1966, it had 338,000 members and, despite the splitting out of further groups in 1970, by 1980 it still had 269,845 members. The first groups to be split out were: • Power Workers, formed in 1926 from the
National Amalgamated Union of Enginemen, Firemen, Mechanics, Motormen and Electrical Workers. It had 20,000 members in 1928, rising to 41,000 by 1966. • Engineering, formed in 1931, principally from members of the
Workers' Union. By 1966, it had 269,000 members. • Government, formed in 1943, with 58,000 members by 1966. • Municipal, formed in 1945, with 44,000 members by 1966. • Agricultural, formed in 1945, with 13,000 members by 1966. • joined by the
National Union of Agricultural and Allied Workers • Building, formed in 1953, with 53,000 members by 1966. • Chemical, formed in 1953, with 61,000 members by 1966.
Later mergers The
Scottish Union of Dock Labourers and the
National Union of Dock, Riverside and General Workers in Great Britain and Ireland initially voted not to amalgamate as founding members, but a new voted changed their position, and they joined before the end of 1922, along with the
Amalgamated Carters, Lurrymen and Motormen's Union, the Greenock Sugar Porters' Union, the Dundee Flax and Jute Stowers' Society, the
National Union of British Fishermen, and the
Belfast Breadservers' Association. Some of these unions retained a great deal of autonomy and in many ways effectively functioned as separate unions, even being registered separately with the
Registrar of Friendly Societies The biggest merger was with the
Workers' Union in 1929, the union being fully integrated into the TGWU in 1931. ==Campaigns==