Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners

The Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners (ASCJ) was a New Model Trade Union in the 1860s in the United Kingdom, representing carpenters and joiners.

The formation of the Society was spurred by the Stonemason's strike, 1859, which succeeded in winning a nine-hour day. In 1860, a number of small societies formed the Amalgamated.^[1] Robert Applegarth was the general secretary from 1862 to 1871.^[2]

The union also established branches in the United States and in Australia. The United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America took over its U.S. branches in 1913, and the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners took over its Australian branches in 1917.^[3]

By 1892, the union had 37,588 members, and by 1900 it had 65,000. It merged with or absorbed a number of smaller unions including the Carpenters of Dublin, the Carpenteres of Cork, the Mersey Ship Joiners and other small unions in Britain and Ireland in the 1890s. In 1911, it merged with the Associated Carpenters and Joiners of Scotland, while in 1918 the Amalgamated Union of Cabinetmakers joined the union, which renamed itself as the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters, Cabinetmakers and Joiners. In 1921, the union merged with the General Union of Carpenters and Joiners, forming the Amalgamated Society of Woodworkers^[1]

General Secretaries

1860: J. Lea

1862: Robert Applegarth

1871: John D. Prior

1881: James S. Murchie

1888: Francis Chandler

1919: Alexander Gordon Cameron

Footnotes

References

• 175 Years of Building Trade Unionism, UCATT, 2002

External links

• Catalogue of the ASCJ archives, held at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick