The Amalgamated Association of Beamers, Twisters and Drawers (Hand and Machine) (AABTD) was a British trade union which existed between 1866 and 2002. It represented skilled workers in the cotton industry who were responsible for preparing warp yarns prior to weaving.
History The union was founded in 1866 as the Amalgamated Association of Beamers, Twisters and Drawers by the loose amalgamation of several district unions. It was reconstituted in 1889, and officially registered the following year. In 1915, it added "Hand and Machine" to its name.University of Warwick, "A Catalogue of the Papers of the Amalgamated Association of Beamers, Twisters and Drawers" By this time, it had also affiliated to the United Textile Factory Workers' Association.P. F. Clarke, Lancashire and the New Liberalism, p.93
The union's large number of affiliates included: Union Founded Membership (1907) Notes Accrington 1885 101 Merged into Accrington, Church and Oswaldtwistle 1971 Ashton-under-Lyne 1860 171 Merged into Hyde and District in 1967 Bacup and District 1901 85 Merged into Rossendale Valley 1963 Bamber Bridge 1882 66 Merged into Preston 1930s Barnoldswick 1925 N/A Dissolved 1970. Earlier union active 1906–1970 Blackburn 1866 706 Merged into Blackburn and Bolton 1971 Bolton 1892 266 Merged into Blackburn and Bolton 1971 Burnley and District 1878 498 Dissolved 1983 Bury 1890 105 Merged into Rochdale and District 1973 Chorley and District 1892 174 Merged into Blackburn and Bolton 1971 Church and Oswaldtwistle 1867 102 Merged into Accrington, Church and Oswaldtwistle 1971 Clayton-le-Moors 1900 41 Dissolved 1920s Clitheroe and District 1892 70 Dissolved 1940s Colne and District 1895 214 Dissolved 1983 Darwen 1892 252 Merged into Blackburn and Bolton 1971 Earby and District 1905 33 Dissolved 1960 Farington 1903 N/A Merged into Preston 1906 Great Harwood 1860 109 Dissolved 1950s Hadfield and Glossop 1895 56 Merged into Hyde and District 1920s Haslingden 1886 75 Merged into Rossendale Valley 1963 Heywood 1890 102 Merged into Rochdale and District 1973 Hyde and District 1902 72 Merged into Colne and District 1976 Leigh and Bedford 1890 67 Merged into Bolton 1940s Littleborough 1893 60 Merged into Rochdale and District 1967 Longridge 1870 31 Merged into Preston 1950s Macclesfield 1894 30 Dissolved 1920s Manchester 1865 136 Dissolved 1969 Nelson and District 1893 340 Dissolved 1983 Oldham 1868 109 Dissolved 1963 Padiham 1895 101 Dissolved 1983 Preston 1866 412 Dissolved 1983 Radcliffe 1891 60 Merged into Bury 1972 Ramsbottom 1894 43 Dissolved 1940s Rawtenstall and District 1891 60 Merged into Rossendale Valley 1963 Rishton 1893 40 Dissolved 1940s Rochdale and District 1892 157 Merged into Colne and District 1974 Skipton and District 1905 44 Dissolved 1980 Stockport 1906 61 Merged into Hyde and District 1967 Todmorden 1892 201 Dissolved 1983 Wigan and District 1891 60 Merged into Bolton and District 1963
From 1890 until 1932, the union was led by William Cornforth Robinson, a member of the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party, who served two terms as a Member of Parliament.The Labour Who's Who (1927), p.185 In the 1940s and 1950s, it was led by Harry Earnshaw, also a member of the National Executive Committee.Denis Healey, Healey's eye: a photographic memoir, p.22
Although union membership was never large, it remained fairly steady into the 1950s, being 3,924 in 1955. However, it dropped rapidly from the 1960s onwards, as employment in the cotton industry in England declined. Many affiliates merged with each other, with the Blackburn and Bolton Districts of the Amalgamation becoming the largest single affiliate. However, that union was suspended from the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in 1972, as it had registered with the government, in defiance of TUC policy. In response, in 1974, the amalgamation expelled the union, which subsequently collapsed. The following year, the Colne, Nelson and Preston unions began working together with a common general secretary, as the North East Lancashire and Cumbrian District, representing three-fifths of the remaining membership. In 1983, they were dissolved, along with the remaining minor affiliates, and the former North East Lancashire and Cumbrian District took over the leadership of the amalgamation.
By 1980, the union had only 1,065 members, and by 1989 this had declined to just 470, although its members were determined not to merge into a larger union.Roger Undy, Trade Union Merger Strategies, p.62 Given the precipitous decline in membership, it disaffiliated from the Trades Union Congress in 1992,Roger Undy, Managing the Unions, pp.298-300 and eventually its remaining members transferred to Manufacturing, Science and Finance in 1998, with the union being formally dissolved in 2002.Tom Wilson, The Future for Unions
General Secretaries J. Ashton 1890: William C. Robinson 1932: James Stott 1940: Harry Earnshaw 1962: Alan Green 1964: James Bleackley 1968: G. Borrah 1974: F. Sumner 1982: A. Little 1985: Albert H. Edmundson 1991: Tony Brindle
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