National Amalgamated Union of Shop Assistants, Warehousemen and Clerks

The National Amalgamated Union of Shop Assistants, Warehousemen and Clerks (NAUSAWC, often known as the Shop Assistants' Union) was a trade union representing retail workers in the United Kingdom.

The union was founded in 1891 with the merger of the East London Shop Assistants Union and the Warehouse Assistants Union. Based in Manchester, it was originally named the National Union of Shop Assistants, and the following year, 1893 it became the National Union of Shop Assistants, Warehousemen and Clerks. Its membership grew rapidly, from just under 1,300 in 1893 to more than 7,500 in 1900.^[1] During this period, it relocated its headquarters to London, merged in 1898 with the United Shop Assistants Union, and adopted its final name.^[2]

In 1910, the union had more than 21,000 members, including 3,000 women, and was the second largest union of retail workers, after the Amalgamated Co-operative Employees union. It continued to expand, merging with the National Association of Grocers Assistants in 1920 and the Dental Assistants Union in 1921.^[2] It built up a branch in Dublin, but this left in 1921 to merge with the Irish Drapers' Assistants Association, forming the Irish Union of Distributive and Clerks.^[3]

In 1946, the union merged with the National Union of Distributive and Allied Workers to form the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers.^[2]

Notable figures associated with the union include assistant general secretary Margaret Bondfield, and president James Seddon.

General secretaries

1891: William Johnson

1894: James Macpherson

1912: John Turner

1924: John Leslie

1936: G. Maurice Hann

References

1. ↑ USDAW leaflet Retrieved 30 November 2016
2. 1 2 3 Arthur Ivor Marsh, Historical Directory of Trade Unions, Volume 5, pp.127-128
3. ↑ Arthur Ivor Marsh, Historical Directory of Trade Unions, Volume 5, pp.119-120