NATSOPA
National Society of Operative Printers and Assistants
Former trade union of the United Kingdom
The National Society of Operative Printers and Assistants (NATSOPA) was a British trade union.
National Society of Operative Printers and Assistants | |
| Merged into | Society of Graphical and Allied Trades |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1889 |
| Dissolved | 1982 |
| Headquarters | Caxton House, Borough Road, London |
| Location | |
Members | 20,877 (1946)[1] 54,464 (1980)[2] |
Key people | George Isaacs, Richard Briginshaw |
| Publication | NATSOPA Journal and Graphic Review[2] |
| Affiliations | TUC, P&KTF, Labour |
Formed as part of the New Unionism movement in September 1889, the union was originally named the Printers' Labourers' Union and was led by George Evans. In 1899, it was renamed the Operative Printers' Assistants Union, and in 1904 it became the National Society of Operative Printers' Assistants, taking the acronym NATSOPA for the first time. In 1911, it assumed its long-term name, the "National Society of Operative Printers and Assistants". By this point, it had 4,722 members, and it grew rapidly, having 25,000 members in 92 branches by 1929.
In 1966, the union merged with the National Union of Printing, Bookbinding and Paper Workers, becoming Division 1 of the Society of Graphical and Allied Trades (SOGAT), but in 1970 the failure to agree a common rulebook led to Division 1 leaving to become the National Society of Operative Printers and Media Personnel. In 1972, it merged with the Sign and Display Trade Union,[3] and in 1982 it again merged with SOGAT, on this occasion the merger proving successful.
The union sponsored George Isaacs as a Labour Party candidate in each general election and two by-elections between 1918 and 1955.[4]
| Election | Constituency | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1918 general election | Southwark North | George Isaacs | 2,027 | 22.4 | 3 |
| 1922 general election | Gravesend | George Isaacs | 7,180 | 35.6 | 2[5] |
| 1923 general election | Gravesend | George Isaacs | 9,776 | 43.4 | 1 |
| 1924 general election | Gravesend | George Isaacs | 10,969 | 41.6 | 2 |
| 1927 by-election | Southwark North | George Isaacs | 6,167 | 36.9 | 2[6] |
| 1929 general election | Southwark North | George Isaacs | 9,660 | 45.8 | 1[7] |
| 1931 general election | Southwark North | George Isaacs | 7,053 | 35.1 | 2[8] |
| 1935 general election | Southwark North | George Isaacs | 8,007 | 49.8 | 2[9] |
| 1939 by-election | Southwark North | George Isaacs | 5,815 | 57.4 | 1[10] |
| 1945 general election | Southwark North | George Isaacs | 5,943 | 69.0 | 1[11] |
| 1950 general election | Southwark | George Isaacs | 35,049 | 68.3 | 1[12] |
| 1951 general election | Southwark | George Isaacs | 36,586 | 72.3 | 1[13] |
| 1955 general election | Southwark | George Isaacs | 28,174 | 70.3 | 1[14] |
General Secretaries
- 1889: George Evans
- 1890: Thomas O'Grady
- 1897: Michael Vaughan
- 1898: Eddie Smith
- 1909: George Isaacs
- 1948: Harry Good
- 1951: Richard Briginshaw
- 1975: Owen O'Brien
Presidents
- 1889: James Keep[15]
- 1891: Frederick Quinn[15]
- 1893: James Keep[15]
- 1898: Eddie Smith[15]
- 1899: Harry Cook[15]
- 1901: J. B. Sullivan[15]
- 1904: George Cullen[15]
- 1905: J. B. Sullivan[15]
- 1907: James Keep[15]
- 1910: A. Bispham[15]
- 1917: J. C. Mead[15]
- 1920: George T. Bevan[15]
- 1929: William Plunkett[15]
- Labour Party, Report of the Forty-Fifth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, p.77
- Eaton, Jack; Gill, Colin (1981). The Trade Union Directory. London: Pluto Press. pp. 171–176. ISBN 0861043502.
- Parker, James (2017). Trade unions and the political culture of the Labour Party, 1931-1940 (PDF). Exeter: University of Exeter. p. 125.
- Labour Party, Report of the Twenty-second Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp.255-272. Note that this list is of the sanctioned candidates as of June 1922, and there were some changes between this date and the general election.
- Labour Party, Report of the Annual Labour Party Conference (1927), pp.9–13
- "List of Labour Candidates and Election Results, May 30th, 1929". Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party: 24–44. 1929.
- "List of Endorsed Labour Candidates and Election Results, October 27, 1931". Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party: 11–27. 1931.
- "List of Endorsed Labour Candidates and Election Results, November 14, 1935". Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party: 8–23. 1935.
- Labour Party, Report of the Annual Labour Party Conference (1945). Affiliations are those as of mid-1945; it is possible that some MPs may have had different sponsors at the time of their election.
- Labour Party, Report of the Forty-Fifth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp.232-248
- "List of Parliamentary Labour candidates and election results, February 23rd, 1950". Report of the Forty-Ninth Annual Conference of the Labour Party: 179–198. 1950.
- "List of Parliamentary Labour candidates and election results, 25th October, 1951". Report of the Fiftieth Annual Conference of the Labour Party: 184–203. 1951.
- Labour Party, Report of the Fifty-Fourth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp.255-275
- Suthers, R. B. (1929). The Story of "NATSOPA". London: NATSOPA. pp. 16–17.
- Arthur Marsh, Victoria Ryan and John B. Smethurst, Historical Directory of Trade Unions
- James Moran, Natsopa: Seventy-five Years
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