Association of Professional, Executive, Clerical and Computer Staff

The Association of Professional, Executive, Clerical and Computer Staff (APEX) was a British trade union which represented clerical and administrative employees.

History The Clerks Union was formed in 1890 and later was renamed as the National Union of Clerks. Then, following rapid growth and amalgamation with several other unions, the name was again changed to the National Union of Clerks and Administrative Workers (NUCAW) with a membership of around 40,000.

In 1940, NUCAW merged with the Association of Women Clerks and Secretaries (AWCS) to form the Clerical and Administrative Workers' Union (CAWU). The union organised in the white-collar sector in the City of London and across the country, and had particular success in recruiting in the engineering industry. In the 1960s its membership grew rapidly, but it was less successful in the 1970s, membership increasing by 18%, while that of its rival, the Association of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staffs (ASTMS), nearly doubled.

The union changed its name to the Association of Professional, Executive, Clerical and Computer Staff (APEX) in 1972. It was the union at the centre of the Grunwick dispute in the 1970s.

APEX, like its predecessors, was an affiliated trade union of the British Labour Party and was a key influence on the right wing of the Party, particularly as, until 1972, it enforced a rule preventing communists from holding positions in the union. Its relations with other unions were often difficult, as it competed not only with the ASTMS for members, but also with the National Union of Bank Employees and various general unions. In particular, a dispute over members at General Accident was referred to the Trades Union Congress Disputes Committee and the fall-out led to APEX's general secretary, Roy Grantham, failing to win re-election to the General Council of the TUC.

In 1989 APEX merged with the GMB trade union and now exists as a section within the GMB.

Election results The union sponsored numerous Labour Party candidates, many of whom were elected:

Election Constituency Candidate Votes Percentage Position 1922 general election Bath 4,849 17.8 3 1945 general election Liverpool Everton 9,088 65.4 1Labour Party, Report of the Forty-Fifth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 232–248. 1950 general election Liverpool West Derby 25,417 48.1 2 Sheffield Park 30,558 67.7 1 1951 general election Sheffield Park 30,842 69.2 1 1955 general election Birmingham All Saints 18,867 51.8 1Labour Party, Report of the Fifty-Fourth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 255–275. Sheffield Park 28,904 73.2 1 1959 general election Birmingham All Saints 17,215 50.0 2Labour Party, Report of the Fifty-Eighth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 179–201. Sheffield Park 26,078 71.1 1 1961 by-election Birmingham Small Heath 12,182 59.2 1 1964 general election Birmingham Ladywood 10,098 63.2 1Labour Party, Report of the Sixty-Third Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 158–180. Birmingham Small Heath 17,010 60.4 1 Sheffield Park 24,196 75.6 1 1966 general election Birmingham Ladywood 8,895 58.9 1Labour Party, Report of the Sixty-Fifth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 308–330. Birmingham Small Heath 18,075 69.5 1 Darlington 23,909 50.5 1 Sheffield Park 24,550 80.3 1 1970 general election Birmingham Small Heath 13,794 61.1 1Labour Party, Report of the Sixty-Ninth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 289–312. Darlington 23,208 48.5 1 Sheffield Park 23,302 75.3 1 Feb 1974 general election Birmingham Small Heath 19,319 57.3 1Labour Party, Report of the Seventy-Third Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 371–390. Darlington 20,546 40.8 1 Glasgow Craigton 18,055 51.3 1 Gower 23,856 52.9 1 Hertford and Stevenage 30,343 44.7 1 Sheffield Park 31,273 65.0 1 Oct 1974 general election Birmingham Small Heath 19,703 66.5 1Labour Party, Report of the Seventy-Third Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 391–411. Darlington 21,334 45.6 1 Glasgow Craigton 16,952 50.5 1 Gower 25,067 57.3 1 Hertford and Stevenage 29,548 47.1 1 Sheffield Park 30,057 71.4 1 1979 general election Birmingham Small Heath 17,735 60.5 1Labour Party, Report of the Seventy-Eighth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 406–431. Darlington 22,565 45.5 1 Glasgow Craigton 19,952 59.9 1 Gower 24,963 53.2 1 Hertford and Stevenage 30,443 45.1 2 Sheffield Park 27,483 68.6 1 1983 general election Aberavon 23,745 58.8 1 Birmingham Small Heath 22,874 63.8 1 Glasgow Govan 20,370 55.0 1 1987 general election Aberavon 27,126 66.8 1 Birmingham Small Heath 22,787 66.3 1 Glasgow Govan 24,071 64.8 1

Leadership General Secretaries 1890: W. Moritz 1890: W. M. Sutherland Charles Dyer 1906: Herbert Henry Elvin 1941: Fred Woods 1956: Anne Godwin 1963: Henry Chapman 1971: Roy Grantham

Presidents 1890: Wallas 1890: J. W. E. Hale

1912: G. E. O'Dell 1914: R. J. W. Scott 1915: John Lindsley 1916: Charles Latham 1918: James McKinlay 1927: Hubert Hughes 1940: William Elger 1946: Bob Scouller 1951: Helene Walker 1961: David Currie 1972: Denis Howell 1983: Ken Smith

Association of Professional, Executive, Clerical and Computer Staff

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