# Irish Trades Union Congress

The Irish Trades Union Congress (ITUC) was a union federation covering the island of Ireland.

## History

Until 1894, representatives of Irish trade unions attended the British Trades Union Congress (TUC). However, many felt that they had little impact on the British body, and the Dublin Trades Council had twice tried and failed to form an Irish federation of trade unions. Its third attempt, the Irish Trades Union Congress, met for the first time in April 1894. Although some Irish delegates continued to attend the British TUC, their decision to bar representatives of trades councils from 1895 increased dissatisfaction, and the ITUC soon became the leading Irish union federation. Despite this, the new federation adopted the form of the British TUC, differentiating itself primarily by offering lower subscription rates and lower costs for delegates to attend its annual congress. In 1900, the British TUC asked the ITUC to amalgamate with it, but this request was rejected.
In its early years, the ITUC was dominated by small craft unions. The unions of carpenters were particularly important, while the printers and tailors also proved significant. Several British-based unions with Irish members also affiliated. While initially aiming to include the "land and labour" movement, this was excluded from 1898 onwards, as its organisations were not considered to be recognised trade unions or trades councils. Early issues discussed as the congress included the campaigns for an eight-hour day, for manhood suffrage, and for improvements to pay and conditions. Calls for nationalisation were initially defeated, but were passed in 1898. While delegates votes in favour of establishing a political fund, to support favoured candidates, nothing came of this, although the ITUC did have strong links with Joseph Nannetti, who liaised on its behalf with the Irish Parliamentary Party.
In 1912, the ITUC established a political arm, becoming known as the Irish Labour Party and Trade Union Congress (or Irish Trade Union Congress and Labour Party). The political wing evolved into the Labour Party. Despite the Partition of Ireland, the ITUC continued to organise throughout the island, but tensions arose between the unions based in Britain and with members in both Britain and Ireland, and the Irish-based unions. In 1936, the organisation formed a commission to examine the issue. William O'Brien put in a proposal to form ten industrial groupings with no overlaps to negotiate on behalf of workers - in effect, this would have passed existing union activities to ten industrial unions. This and three other proposals were discussed at the 1939 conference, but O'Brien and his supporters walked out and formed the Advisory Council of Irish Unions. This comprised eighteen unions based in Ireland, and accounted for about half the ITUC membership.
The Advisory Council cut ties with the ITUC in 1945 and formed the Congress of Irish Unions. After long negotiations, the two organisations reunited in 1959 to form the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.

## Affiliates

The following unions were affiliated to the ITUC as of 1925:
* Amalgamated Engineering Union
* Amalgamated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen
* Amalgamated Society of Slaters and Tilers
* Amalgamated Society of Tailors and Tailoresses
* Amalgamated Society of Woodcutting Machinists
* Amalgamated Society of Woodworkers
* Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union
* Amalgamated Union of Building Trade Workers
* Ancient Guild of Incorporated Brick and Stone Layers
* Associated Blacksmiths' and Ironworkers' Society
* Belfast and Dublin Locomotive Engine Drivers' and Firemen's Trade Union
* Civil Service Clerical Association
* Dublin Operative Plasterers' Trade Society
* Dublin Packing Case Makers
* Dublin Typographical Provident Society
* Flax Roughers' and Yarn Spinners' Trade Union
* Irish Bakers', Confectioners' and Allied Workers' Amalgamated Union
* Irish Clerical and Allied Workers' Union
* Irish Engineering Industrial Union
* Irish Garment Makers' Industrial Union
* Irish Mental Hospital Workers' Union
* Irish Municipal Employees' Trade Union
* Irish National Teachers' Organisation
* Irish National Union of Painters and Decorators
* Irish Post Office Workers' Union
* Irish Transport and General Workers' Union
* Irish Union of Distributive Workers and Clerks
* Irish Women Workers' Union
* National Amalgamated Furnishing Trades Association
* National Amalgamated Society of Operative House and Ship Painters and Decorators
* National Sailors' and Firemen's Union
* National Society of Brushmakers
* National Union of Life Assurance Workers
* National Union of Railwaymen
* National Union of Sheet Metal Workers and Gas Meter Makers of Ireland
* National Union of Vehicle Builders
* Railway Clerks' Association
* Tailors' and Garment Workers' Trade Union
* Typographical Association
* Union of Post Office Workers
* United Operative Plumbers and Domestic Engineers
By 1954, the following unions held membership:
| Union | Membership |
| Amalgamated Engineering Union | 21,486 |
| Amalgamated Slaters, Tilers and Roofing Operatives | 102 |
| Amalgamated Society of Lithographic Printers | 288 |
| Amalgamated Society of Woodworkers | 16,860 |
| Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union | 40,000 |
| Amalgamated Union of Building Trade Workers of Great Britain and Ireland | 1,980 |
| Amalgamated Union of Foundry Workers | 882 |
| Associated Blacksmiths', Forge and Smithy Workers' Society | 479 |
| Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen | 1,483 |
| Association of Engineering and Shipbuilding Draughtsmen | 1,216 |
| Association of Scientific Workers | 59 |
| Association of Supervisory Staffs, Executives and Technicians | 1,206 |
| Assurance Representatives' Organisation | 1,201 |
| Civil Service Clerical Association | 3,600 |
| Clerical and Administrative Workers' Union | 2,000 |
| Cork Coopers' Society | 47 |
| Cork Operative Butchers' Society | 91 |
| Electrical Trades Union (UK) | 5,453 |
| Federation of Rural Workers | 1,000 |
| Fire Brigades Union | 100 |
| Irish Bakers', Confectioners' and Allied Workers' Amalgamated Union | 5,000 |
| Irish Commercial Travellers' Federation | 600 |
| Irish Federation of Musicians | 788 |
| Irish Municipal Employees' Trade Union | 1,500 |
| Irish National League of the Blind | 100 |
| Irish National Teachers' Organisation | 7,414 |
| Irish Post Office Engineering Union | 1,500 |
| Irish Shoe and Leather Workers' Union | 3,000 |
| Irish Union of Hairdressers and Allied Workers | 411 |
| Irish Women Workers' Union | 6,500 |
| National Amalgamated Union of Life Assurance Workers | 100 |
| National Association of Operative Plasterers | 1,011 |
| National Association of Theatrical and Kine Employees | 492 |
| National Association of Transport Employees | 3,000 |
| National Federation of Insurance Workers | 1,158 |
| National League of the Blind of Great Britain and Ireland | 124 |
| National Society of Brushmakers | 192 |
| National Society of Coppersmiths, Braziers and Metalworkers | 360 |
| National Society of Painters | 3,884 |
| National Union of Boot and Shoe Operatives | 500 |
| National Union of Furniture Trade Operatives | 2,934 |
| National Union of General and Municipal Workers | 2,400 |
| National Union of Journalists | 508 |
| National Union of Packing Case Makers | 50 |
| National Union of Printing, Bookbinding and Paper Workers | 1,487 |
| National Union of Scalemakers | 100 |
| National Union of Seamen | 1,000 |
| National Union of Sheet Metal Workers and Braziers | 900 |
| National Union of Tailors and Garment Workers | 6,651 |
| National Union of Vehicle Builders | 2,000 |
| Northern Ireland Musicians' Association | 300 |
| North of Ireland Operative Butchers and Allied Workers Association | 489 |
| Pilots' and Marine Officers' Association | 200 |
| Plumbing Trades Union | 3,323 |
| Post Office Engineering Union | 545 |
| Post Office Workers' Union | 6,000 |
| Transport Salaried Staffs' Association | 4,147 |
| Typographical Association | 2,138 |
| Union of Post Office Workers | 2,742 |
| Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers | 6,335 |
| United Society of Boilermakers and Iron and Steel Shipbuilders | 3,656 |
| Vocational Educational Officers' Organisation | 600 |
| Workers' Union of Ireland | 25,000 |

## Secretaries

    1894: John Simmons
    1899: Hugh McManus
    1900: E. L. Richardson
    1910: P. T. Daly
    1918: William O'Brien
    1920: Thomas Johnson
    1928: Eamonn Lynch
    1941: Cathal O'Shannon
    1945: Thomas Johnson
    1945: Ruaidhri Roberts

## Presidents

| Year | Name | Union |
| 1894 | Thomas O'Connell | Dublin Trades Council |
| 1895 | John Henry Jolley | Cork Trades Council |
| 1896 | James D'Alton | Limerick Trades Council |
| 1897 | P. J. Leo | Waterford Trades Council |
| 1898 | Richard Wortley | Belfast Trades Council |
| 1899 | James McCarron | Amalgamated Society of Tailors |
| 1900 | George Leahy | Regular Stucco Plasterers' Trade Union of the City of Dublin |
| 1901 | Alexander Bowman | Municipal Employees' Association |
| 1902 | William Cave | Cork Trades Council |
| 1903 | Walter Hudson | Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants |
| 1904 | William Walker | Belfast Trades Council |
| 1905 | James Chambers | Dublin Saddlers' Society |
| 1906 | Stephen Dineen | Irish National Federal Union of Bakers |
| 1907 | James McCarron | Amalgamated Society of Tailors |
| 1908 | John Murphy | Belfast Trades Council |
| 1909 | Michael J. Egan | Cork Trades Council |
| 1910 | James McCarron | Amalgamated Society of Tailors |
| 1911 | David Robb Campbell | National Union of Life Assurance Agents |
| 1912 | Michael O'Lehane | Irish Drapers' Assistants Association |
| 1913 | William O'Brien | Irish Transport and General Workers' Union |
| 1914 | James Larkin | Irish Transport and General Workers' Union |
| 1916 | Thomas Johnson | National Amalgamated Union of Shop Assistants, Warehousemen and Clerks |
| 1917 | Thomas MacPartlin | Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners |
| 1918 | William O'Brien | Irish Transport and General Workers' Union |
| 1919 | Thomas Cassidy | Typographical Association |
| 1920 | Thomas Farren | Stonecutters' Union of Ireland |
| 1921 | Thomas Foran | Irish Transport and General Workers' Union |
| 1922 | Cathal O'Shannon | Irish Transport and General Workers' Union |
| 1923 | Luke Duffy | Irish Union of Distributive Workers and Clerks |
| 1925 | William O'Brien | Irish Transport and General Workers' Union |
| 1926 | Denis Cullen | Irish Bakers' Amalgamated Union |
| 1927 | J. T. O'Farrell | Railway Clerks' Association |
| 1928 | William McMullen | Irish Transport and General Workers' Union |
| 1929 | Luke Duffy | Irish Union of Distributive Workers and Clerks |
| 1930 | Thomas J. O'Connell | Irish National Teachers' Organisation |
| 1931 | Denis Cullen | Irish Bakers' Amalgamated Union |
| 1932 | Louie Bennett | Irish Women Workers' Union |
| 1933 | Seán Campbell | Dublin Typographical Provident Society |
| 1934 | Michael Duffy | Irish Transport and General Workers' Union |
| 1935 | P. J. Cairns | Post Office Workers Union |
| 1936 | Michael Drumgoole | Irish Union of Distributive Workers and Clerks |
| 1937 | Helena Molony | Irish Women Workers' Union |
| 1938 | Jeremiah Hurley | Irish National Teachers' Organisation |
| 1939 | P. T. Daly | Irish Transport and General Workers' Union |
| 1940 | Sam Kyle | Amalgamated Transport and General Workers Union |
| 1941 | William O'Brien | Irish Transport and General Workers' Union |
| 1942 | Michael Colgan | Irish Bookbinders and Allied Trades Union |
| 1943 | Michael Keyes | National Union of Railwaymen |
| 1944 | Robert Getgood | Amalgamated Transport and General Workers Union |
| 1945 | Gilbert Lynch | Amalgamated Transport and General Workers Union |
| 1947 | John Swift | Irish Bakers', Confectioners' and Allied Workers' Amalgamated Union |
| 1948 | Louie Bennett | Irish Women Workers' Union |
| 1949 | James Larkin Jnr | Workers' Union of Ireland |
| 1950 | Sam Kyle | Amalgamated Transport and General Workers Union |
| 1951 | Helen Chenevix | Irish Women Workers' Union |
| 1952 | James Larkin Jnr | Workers' Union of Ireland |
| 1953 | Con Connolly | Cork Workers' Council |
| 1954 | John McAteer | National Union of Printing, Bookbinding and Paper Workers |
| 1955 | Robert Smith | Plumbing Trades Union |
| 1956 | J. Harold Binks | Clerical and Administrative Workers Union |
| 1957 | Norman Kennedy | Amalgamated Transport and General Workers Union |
| 1958 | Jack Macgougan | National Union of Tailors and Garment Workers |
| 1959 | Walter Carpenter | Amalgamated Society of Woodworkers |

## Treasurers

| Year | Name | Union |
| 1894 | Patrick Dowd | Dublin Trades Council |
| 1895 | John Henry Jolley | Typographical Association |
| 1898 | Peter Tevenan | Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants |
| 1900 | Alex Taylor | Irish Linenlappers' Trade Union |
| 1902 | George Leahy | Operative Plasterers Society |
| 1905 | Edward W. Stewart | National Union of Shop Assistants, Warehousemen and Clerks |
| 1910 | Michael O'Lehane | Irish Drapers' Assistants' Association |
| 1913 | David Robb Campbell | National Union of Life Assurance Agents |
| 1919 | Thomas Johnson | National Union of Shop Assistants, Warehousemen and Clerks |
| 1921 | William O'Brien | Irish Transport and General Workers' Union |
| 1925 | Archie Heron | Irish Transport and General Workers' Union |
| 1926 | William O'Brien | Irish Transport and General Workers' Union |
| 1930 | Denis Cullen | Irish Bakers, Confectioners and Allied Workers Amalgamated Union |
| 1931 | Luke Duffy | Irish Union of Distributive Workers and Clerks |
| 1934 | Seán Campbell | Dublin Typographical Provident Society |
| 1945 | J. T. O'Farrell | Railway Clerks' Association |
| 1950 | John Swift | Irish Bakers, Confectioners and Allied Workers Amalgamated Union |
| 1959 | Dominick Murphy | Transport Salaried Staffs' Association |