Union of Jute, Flax and Kindred Textile Operatives

The Union of Jute, Flax and Kindred Textile Operatives was a trade union representing workers in the textile trades in and around Dundee in Scotland.

The union was founded after a major strike in the industry in Dundee. The strikers had no official union representation, as the Dundee and District Mill and Factory Operatives Union opposed the action. As a result, in 1906, Mary Macarthur and John Reed of Dundee Trades Council founded it as the Dundee and District Union of Jute and Flax Workers. On formation, it had 3,964 members, of whom two-thirds were women, rising to 5,000 by 1910.Arthur Marsh and Victoria Ryan, Historical Directory of Trade Unions, vol.4, p.304

John Sime became prominent in the union as its president, then as its general secretary. Under his leadership, the union came into conflict with the rival Dundee and District Mill and Factory Operatives Union, eventually coming to dominate the industry in the city. By the 1920s, membership had reached a peak of 20,000, but this gradually declined due to redundancies in the industry.

By 1979, the union had fewer than 2,000 members remaining, and it merged into the National Union of Dyers, Bleachers and Textile Workers.

General Secretaries 1906: William Egerton 1908: John Sime 1940: Thomas Matthew Ferguson 1947: John Duffy 1958: Robert Doyle 1971: Margaret Fenwick

Presidents

1906: John Sime 1908: Nicholas Marra 1911: Mary Wood

1924: Rachel Devine 1930: Jeannie Spence 1933: Robert Doyle 1937: 1945: Robert Doyle 1956:

References