National Union of Boot and Shoe Operatives


The National Union of Boot and Shoe Operatives was a trade union in the United Kingdom which existed between 1873 and 1971. It represented workers in the footwear industry.

History

The union was founded in 1873, when many riveters and finishers left the Amalgamated Society of Boot and Shoe Makers. They were dissatisfied by their low status within the old union, and instead formed the National Union of Boot and Shoe Rivetters and Finishers. Membership in Leicester grew rapidly, with the next largest branches being Glasgow, London and Stafford. In total, by 1877, the union had about 4,000 members.
A few women joined the union in the late 1880s, making it the first union outside the textile trades to admit both men and women. At this point, membership in the important shoe making centre of Northampton was low, with only about 600 of 15,000 shoe workers in the town holding union membership. That year, a five-week lock-out of members resulted in a settlement favourable to the union. This brought in hundreds of new members, and by the end of the year, its national membership reached 10,000. The General Union of Clickers and Rough-stuff Cutters merged into the NUBSRF in 1892, but most of its members left again in 1895.
During the late 1880s and early 1890s, socialists came to prominence in the union. They led campaigns against sweatshop working and outworking, where people worked from their own homes and were paid by item completed. Under their influence, the union organised a 34-week strike in 1897, in support of a minimum wage and a 54-hour week, but this was unsuccessful.
In 1897, the union renamed itself as the "National Union of Boot and Shoe Operatives", and joined the General Federation of Trade Unions the following year. Membership rose over 100,000 by 1920, although it soon fell to around 80,000. Members in the Republic of Ireland left in 1953, to form the Irish Shoe and Leather Workers' Union.
A major decline in the British shoe-making industry led the union to merge with the Amalgamated Society of Leather Workers, the National Union of Glovers and Leather Workers and the National Union of Leather Workers and Allied Trades in 1971, forming National Union of Footwear, Leather and Allied Trades.

Election results

The union was affiliated to the Labour Party, and sponsored numerous Parliamentary candidates, many of whom won election.
ElectionConstituencyCandidateVotes% sharePosition
1906 general electionWolverhampton West6,76750.91
1910 Jan general electionBristol East1,87431.22
1910 Jan general electionWolverhampton West5,79047.62
1918 general electionWellingborough10,29052.51
1922 general electionEccles14,35451.41
1922 general electionLeicester West12,92945.01
1922 general electionWellingborough11,05742.42
1922 general electionWells4,04818.93
1923 general electionDaventry4,12717.53
1923 general electionEccles12,26742.71
1923 general electionNorwich20,07720.91
1924 general electionEccles14,35451.41
1924 general electionNorwich23,80822.93
1929 general electionAltrincham9,24216.43
1929 general electionFrome18,52445.51
1929 general electionNorwich33,69026.02
1929 general electionNottingham East9,78728.03
1929 general electionStafford10,01136.62
1931 general electionFrome17,74841.72
1931 general electionKingston upon Hull North West9,94627.32
1931 general electionLeeds North East10,29424.52
1931 general electionNorwich28,29521.03
1931 general electionStafford8,64031.92
1935 general electionKilmarnock12,55833.42
1935 general electionLeeds North East14,08035.22
1935 general electionLeicester East17,53242.62
1945 general electionBosworth26,15155.61
1945 general electionBurton18,28851.11
1945 general electionHarborough23,35342.51
1945 general electionSmethwick20,52265.91
1950 general electionBosworth29,28253.61
1950 general electionHarborough21,38138.22
1951 general electionBosworth30,76757.11
1966 general electionBridgwater17,86438.12

Leadership

General Secretaries

General Presidents