The Engineers' and Managers' Association (EMA) was a trade union representing managers in the United Kingdom, principally those in the engineering industry.
The union was founded in 1913 as the Association of Electrical Station Engineers, and before the end of the year changed its name to the Association of Electrical Engineers. In 1917, it became the Electrical Power Engineers' Association (EPEA), and it came to greater prominence the following year, after the Electrical Trades Union was prohibited from negotiating for managers in the electricity industry.Arthur Marsh and Victoria Ryan, Historical Directory of British Trade Unions, vol.1, pp.83-84
The union joined the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in 1942, but was expelled in 1972 for registering under the Industrial Relations Act, against TUC policy, but it rejoined in 1973.
In 1976, the union decided to recruit managers and engineers from other industries, and the following year, the Association of Supervisory and Executive Engineers joined, the EPEA soon after adopting its final name. In 1979, the British Aerospace Staffs Association and the Professional Staffs Association also joined. This expansion was opposed by the Association of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staffs, and by the Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section. The EPEA remained a largely autonomous section of the merged union until 1993.University of Warwick, "A Summary Description of the papers of the Engineers' and Managers' Association for Electrical Power Engineers and Executive Professional Engineers "
For many years, the union refused to join the Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions, something which prompted criticism from other unions in the field. In 2001. it merged with the Institution of Professionals, Managers and Specialists to form Prospect.Neela Bettridge and Philip Whiteley, New Normal, Radical Shift, p.51
General Secretaries 1920: W. Arthur Jones 1946: James F. Walace 1952: Harry Norton 1973: John Lyons 1991: Tony Cooper
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