Post Office Engineering Union
{{short description|Former trade union of the United Kingdom}}
{{For|the union in Ireland|Irish Post Office Engineering Union}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox union
| name = POEU
| location_country= United Kingdom
| members = 130,000 (1983)
| full_name = Post Office Engineering Union
| image = Post Office Engineering Union logo.png
| founded = 1915
| dissolved = 1985
| merged = National Communications Union
| headquarters = Greystoke House, Brunswick Road, London
| publication = POEU Journal
| key_people =
| footnotes =
}}
The Post Office Engineering Union (POEU) was a trade union in the United Kingdom. It represented engineering staff in the Post Office, mostly working in telecommunications.{{cite book |last1=Clark |first1=Jon |last2=McLoughlin |first2=Ian |last3=Rose |first3=Howard |last4=King |first4=Robin |editor-last=Clark |editor-first=Jon |title=The Process of Technological Change: New technology and social choice in the workplace |series=Cambridge Studies in Management |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LVw4AAAAIAAJ |access-date=19 April 2013 |year=1988 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=0-521-38698-5 |page=63}}
History
The union was founded in 1915 when the Post Office Engineering and Stores Association and the Amalgamated Society of Telephone Employees merged, to form the Post Office Amalgamated Engineering and Stores Association.[http://www.aim25.ac.uk/cats/49/5474.htm London Metropolitan University (London North campus): Post Office Engineering Union], AIM25. In 1922, following the establishment of the Irish Free State, the union's Irish section split away to form the Irish Post Office Engineering Union.John P. Smethurst and Peter Carter, Historical Directory of Trade Unions, p. 456. In 1925, the Post Office Telegraph Mechanicians' Society joined the union.[http://www.warwick.ac.uk/services/library/mrc/ead/135BRD.htm Post Office Engineering Union Research Department 1887-1994] However, by 1939, membership was only 39,000.
By 1983, the POEU was the twentieth largest union in the UK, with membership around 130,000. In 1985, it merged with the Postal and Telecommunications Group of the Civil and Public Services Association, forming the National Communications Union.
Election results
The union sponsored Labour Party candidates in each Parliamentary election from 1966 onwards.
| class="wikitable sortable"
! Election !! Constituency !! Candidate !! Votes !! Percentage !! Position | |||||
| 1966 general election | Isle of Ely | {{sortname|Graham|Nurse|nolink=1}} | 19,566 | 43.8 | 2Labour Party, Report of the Sixty-Third Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 158–180. |
| 1969 by-election | Newcastle-under-Lyme | {{sortname|John|Golding|John Golding (British politician)}} | 21,786 | 46.1 | 1 |
| rowspan=3 | 1970 general election | Colchester | {{sortname|John|Bartlett|nolink=1}} | 20,325 | 35.0 | 2Labour Party, Report of the Sixty-Ninth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 289–312. |
| Mitcham | {{sortname|Reginald|Vincent|nolink=1}} | 22,047 | 44.2 | 2 | |
| Newcastle-under-Lyme | {{sortname|John|Golding|John Golding (British politician)}} | 22,329 | 48.9 | 1 | |
| 1973 by-election | Westhoughton | {{sortname|Roger|Stott}} | 26,294 | 57.0 | 1 |
| rowspan=3 | Feb 1974 general election | Edinburgh Pentlands | {{sortname|John|McWilliam|John McWilliam (Labour politician)}} | 13,560 | 30.8 | 2Labour Party, Report of the Seventy-Third Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 371–390. |
| Newcastle-under-Lyme | {{sortname|John|Golding|John Golding (British politician)}} | 28,603 | 47.2 | 1 | |
| Westhoughton | {{sortname|Roger|Stott}} | 30,574 | 51.5 | 1 | |
| rowspan=2 | Oct 1974 general election | Newcastle-under-Lyme | {{sortname|John|Golding|John Golding (British politician)}} | 28,154 | 49.6 | 1Labour Party, Report of the Seventy-Third Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 391–411. |
| Westhoughton | {{sortname|Roger|Stott}} | 30,373 | 54.1 | 1 | |
| rowspan=4 | 1979 general election | Bexleyheath | {{sortname|Richard|Blackwell|nolink=1}} | 13,342 | 32.7 | 2 |
| Blaydon | {{sortname|John|McWilliam|John McWilliam (Labour politician)}} | 24,687 | 53.4 | 1 | |
| Newcastle-under-Lyme | {{sortname|John|Golding|John Golding (British politician)}} | 28,649 | 48.5 | 1 | |
| Westhoughton | {{sortname|Roger|Stott}} | 29,685 | 48.2 | 1 | |
| rowspan=3 | 1983 general election | Blaydon | {{sortname|John|McWilliam|John McWilliam (Labour politician)}} | 21,285 | 44.4 | 1 |
| Newcastle-under-Lyme | {{sortname|John|Golding|John Golding (British politician)}} | 21,210 | 42.0 | 1 | |
| Wigan | {{sortname|Roger|Stott}} | 29,859 | 54.6 | 1 |
Leadership
=General Secretaries=
:1915: Charles Howard Smith
:1938: John Edwards
:1947: Douglas Coward
:1953: Charles Delacourt-Smith
:1972: Bryan Stanley
=Presidents=
:1915: E. W. Bennett
:1921: H. A. Barclay
:1924: E. W. Goodwin
:1926: H. G. Hill
:1933: C. T. Saunders
:1934: E. W. Goodwin
:1935: C. J. Connelly
:1936: A. V. Games
:1939: Ernie Power
:1951: W. J. A. Hughes
:1952: L. G. Fox
:1955: W. J. Jones
:1956: Stan Rosser
:1970: John Scott-Garner
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://mrc.epexio.com/records/PEU Catalogue of the POEU archives], held at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick
- [https://mrc.epexio.com/records/ESA Catalogue of the POESA archives], held at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick
{{Authority control}}
Category:Trade unions established in 1915
Category:Trade unions disestablished in 1985