The Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section (TASS) was a British trade union.

History The union was founded in 1913 by 200 draughtsmen, as the Association of Engineering and Shipbuilding Draughtsmen (AESD). It expanded rapidly, and had more than 14,000 member by the end of the decade. Although it declined during the Great Depression, it retained most of its members by offering unemployment benefit, and by 1939 established a new high of 23,000 members, this rising to 44,000 by the end of World War II and over 75,000 by 1968. From 1960, it accepted technicians in ancillary roles, changing its name to the Draughtsmen's and Allied Technicians' Association (DATA).Peter Armstrong et al, White Collar Workers Trade Unions and Class, pp. 163–164.

In 1970, DATA amalgamated with the Amalgamated Union of Engineering and Foundry Workers (AUEFW) and Constructional Engineering Union (CEU) to form the Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers (AUEW). The former members of DATA formed the Technical and Supervisory Section of the new union. At the 1973 Representative Council Conference it was agreed to rename it the Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section (TASS).

In 1985, after considerable problems within the AUEW, TASS broke away to become an independent union.

TASS absorbed the National Union of Gold, Silver and Allied Trades (NUGSAT) in 1981, the National Union of Sheet Metal Workers, Coppersmiths, Heating and Domestic Engineers in 1983, the Association of Patternmakers and Allied Craftsmen in 1984, the Tobacco Workers' Union in 1986, and the National Society of Metal Mechanics in 1987.

In 1988, it merged with the Association of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staffs (ASTMS) to become the Manufacturing Science and Finance Union (MSF). MSF in turn merged with the AEEU to form Amicus in 2002. This resulted in TASS and the former AUEW (by then part of the AEEU) being re-united within one union.

Election results The union sponsored Labour Party candidates in each Parliamentary election from 1950 onwards.

Election Constituency Candidate Votes Percentage Position 1950 general election Bristol West 12,677 30.0 2 South Buckinghamshire 11,389 23.9 2 1951 general election Exeter 18,576 40.7 2Labour Party, Report of the Fiftieth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 184–203. South Buckinghamshire 14,170 31.4 2 1955 general election Bromsgrove 22,287 44.8 2Labour Party, Report of the Fifty-Fourth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 255–275. South Gloucestershire 20,034 47.4 2 1959 general election Glasgow Cathcart 21,169 40.8 2Labour Party, Report of the Fifty-Eighth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 179–201. Wembley South 12,166 32.6 2 1964 general election Chislehurst 20,736 41.2 2Labour Party, Report of the Sixty-Third Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 158–180. Newark 26,171 54.4 1 Tynemouth 25,894 43.7 2 1966 general election Barrow-in-Furness 23,485 60.3 1Labour Party, Report of the Sixty-Fifth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 308–330. Newark 27,402 56.7 1 1968 by-election Bassetlaw 21,394 49.6 1 1970 general election Barrow-in-Furness 22,400 56.1 1Labour Party, Report of the Sixty-Ninth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 289–312. Bassetlaw 28,959 54.9 1 Newark 26,455 51.2 1 Oldham East 17,020 51.1 1 Feb 1974 general election Barrow-in-Furness 19,925 46.1 1Labour Party, Report of the Seventy-Third Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 371–390. Bassetlaw 33,724 60.0 1 Newark 31,586 53.8 1 Oldham East 18,548 48.2 1 Oct 1974 general election Barrow-in-Furness 21,607 51.4 1Labour Party, Report of the Seventy-Third Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 391–411. Bassetlaw 28,663 53.7 1 Newark 26,598 47.9 1 Oldham East 19,054 52.8 1 1979 general election Barrow-in-Furness 22,687 53.2 1Labour Party, Report of the Seventy-Eighth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 406–431. Bassetlaw 29,426 50.2 1 Dundee West 23,654 47.3 1 Newark 25,960 43.0 2 Oldham East 18,248 50.7 1 1983 general election Barrow-in-Furness 17,707 34.7 2 Bassetlaw 22,231 45.6 1 Chorley 17,586 30.5 2 Dundee West 20,288 43.4 1 Oldham Central and Royton 18,611 41.4 1 Preston 21,810 46.7 1 Stockport 12,731 29.0 2 Stockton North 18,339 37.1 1 1987 general election Bassetlaw 25,385 48.1 1 Dundee West 24,916 53.4 1 Glasgow Springburn 25,617 73.6 1 Oldham Central and Royton 21,759 48.1 1 Stockton North 26,043 49.2 1

Leadership General Secretaries 1913: L. Blair 1918: Peter Doig 1945: James Young 1952: George Doughty 1974: Ken Gill

Assistant General Secretaries 1919: David Manteklow 1920: David Manteklow and James Young 1929: Post vacant 1946: John Holland 1956: J. Dickinson

Deputy General Secretaries 1968: Ken Gill 1973: John Forrester 1979: Eric Winterbottom 1983: Barbara Switzer

References

External links Catalogue of the TASS archives, held at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick. Catalogue of the DATA archives, held at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick.