Trade Union entry Amalgamated Society of Engineers (1905 - 1921)

Summary

Established in 1851, the original Amalgamated Engineering Union was merely a branch of the British union. Registered for the first time in 1905, under the new Commonwealth industrial relations laws, this union became known as the Amalgamated Society of Engineers. In 1921 the union changed its name to the Amalgamated Engineering Union, Australian Section to more accurately reflect its association with the British Amalgamated Engineering Union. Although this newly named union was deregistered in February 1938, another union, the Amalgamated Engineering Union (Australian Section), was formed later that year to take its place. This union remained the Australian division of the British Amalgamated Engineering Union until 1969 when it became autonomous, shortening its name to the Amalgamated Engineering Union [AEU] to reflect this. By mid-June 1972 the AEU began merging with the Sheet Metal Workers, Blacksmiths & Boilermakers and Federated Jewellers to form by 1973, the Amalgamated Metal Workers' Union. Further amalgamations in 1976 with the Federated Shipwrights' and the Federated Moulders' (Metals) Union in 1983 changed the focus and the name of the union but by 1985 it had become known once again as the Amalgamated Metal Workers' Union. A 1991 amalgamation with the Association of Draughting Supervisory & Technical Employees' created the Metals & Engineering Workers' Union. Two years later a further amalgamation with the Vehicle Builders Employees' Federation of Australia resulted in the Automotive Metals & Engineering Union. Finally in 1994 this union merged with the Confectionery Workers' & Food Preservers' Union to form the Automotive Food Metals & Engineering Union.

Related entries

Timeline

 1905 - 1921 Amalgamated Society of Engineers
       1921 - 1938 Amalgamated Engineering Union, Australian Section

Archival resources

Broken Hill City Library, Outback Archives

• Amalgamated Engineering Union, Barrier Branch - Records, 1880 - 1938, 88/6; Broken Hill City Library, Outback Archives. Details
• Amalgamated Engineering Union, Broken Hill Branch - Records, 1898 - 1980, 88/7; Broken Hill City Library, Outback Archives. Details

James Cook University of North Queensland, Library Archives

• Amalgamated Metal Workers' & Shipwrights' Union Collection, 1894 - 1984, 38; James Cook University of North Queensland, Library Archives. Details
• Amalgamated Metal Workers Union - Minutes, 1894 - 1968, 6R-7R; James Cook University of North Queensland, Library Archives. Details
• Amalgamated Metal Workers Union - Minutes, 1915 - 1968, 6R, 7L, 7R; James Cook University of North Queensland, Library Archives. Details

Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales

• Records, 1911 - 1941, B1410; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details

The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program

• Amalgamated Engineering Union - Records, 1911 - 1972, Z161; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
• Amalgamated Engineering Union - Records, 1852 - 1983, E140; M24; N24 (pt); E157; P109; Z102 (pt); The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
• Amalgamated Engineering Union - Records, 1852 - 1975, E209; E162; E221; Z102; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
• Amalgamated Engineering Union - Records, 1905 - 1968, E227; E157 (pt); Z102 (pt); The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
• Amalgamated Engineering Union - Records, 1914 - 1968, E157 (pt); E220; Z102 (pt); The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
• Amalgamated Engineering Union - Records, 1875 - 1973, E185; E222; E234; E107; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
• Amalgamated Engineering Union - Records, 1894 - 1968, E157 (pt); T61; Z102 (pt); The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
• Amalgamated Engineering Union - Records, 1880 - 1975, Z240; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
• Amalgamated Engineering Union - Records, 1881 - 1983, N131; Z446; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
• Amalgamated Engineering Union - Records, 1892 - 1973, Z63; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
• H.R. Edwards Papers, 1917 - 1958, P108; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details

State Library of South Australia, Mortlock Library of South Australiana

• Amalgamated Metal Workers Union - Records, 1899 - , SRG 153; State Library of South Australia, Mortlock Library of South Australiana. Details

The University of Melbourne Archives

• Amalgamated Engineering Union - Records, 1883 - 1970, 1974.0027; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Amalgamated Engineering Union, Bendigo Branch - Records, 1865 - 1966, 1980.0133; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Amalgamated Engineering Union, Bendigo Branch - Records, 1865 - 1949, 1978.0061; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Amalgamated Engineering Union, Castlemaine Branch - Records, 1916 - 1968, 1983.0122; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Amalgamated Engineering Union, Castlemaine Branch - Records, 1911 - 1958, 1978.0060; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Amalgamated Engineering Union, Melbourne District Committee - Records, 1883 - 1972, 1988.0140; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Amalgamated Metal Workers' Union, Victorian Branch - Records, 1876 - 1988, 1995.0096; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Amalgamated Metal, Foundry & Shipwrights Union - Records, 1912 - 1979, 1983.0077; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Amalgamated Society of Engineers, Ballarat Branch - Records, 1900 - 1904, 1977.0084; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details

Western Australian Museum

• Banner; Western Australian Museum. Details

Published resources

Books

• Buckley, K.D., The Amalgamated Engineers in Australia 1852-1920, Department of Economic History, Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, 1970, 318 pp. Details
• Reeves, A.P., The Amalgamated Engineers in Australia, 1852-1920, Australian National University Press, Canberra, 1970, 318 pp. Details
• Sheridan, T., Mindful militants: the Amalgamated Engineering Union in Australia 1920-1972, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1975, 329 pp. Details

Edited Books

• Murphy, D.J. (ed.), The Big Strikes, Queensland 1889-1965, University of Queensland Press, Brisbane, Queensland, 1983, 303 pp. Details

Journal Articles

• Bowden, B., 'The Emergence of Labour Identity in a Queensland Town: Ipswich, 1861-1921', Australian Labour History Reconsidered, Australian Humanities Press, Adelaide, 1999, pp. 92-101. Details
• Bowden, Bradley, 'A Time 'the Like of Which was Never Before Experienced': Changing Community Loyalties in Ipswich, 1900-12', Labour History, vol. 78, 2000, pp. 71-93. Details
• Buckley, K., 'The Role of Labour: The Amalgamated Society of Engineers', Labour History, vol. 4, Sydney University Press, Sydney, 1963, pp. 3-10. Details
• Buckley, K.D., 'The Membership of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers in Australia, 1856-1889', Australian Economic History Review, vol. 7, no. 2, Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, Sydney, 1967, pp. 142-149. Details
• Buckley, K.D., 'Emigration and the Engineers', Labour History, vol. 15, 1968, pp. 31-39. Details
• Cockfield, Sandra, 'McKay's harvester works and the continuation of managerial control', Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 40, no. 3, 1998, pp. 383-400. Details
• Coward, D., 'Crime and Punishment', Labour History, vol. 24, Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, Sydney, 1973, pp. 51-80. Details
• Niland, J., 'In Search of Shorter Hours: The 1861 and 1874 Iron Trades Disputes', Labour History, vol. 12, Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, Sydney, 1967, pp. 3-15. Details
• Sheridan, Tom, 'The Amalgamated Engineering Union', Labour History, vol. 17, 1971, pp. 52-66. Details
• Sheridan, Tom, 'Democracy Among the Aristocrats: Participation of Members in the Affairs of the AEU (Australian Section) 1900-72', Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 21, no. 2, 1979, pp. 161-183. Details
• Sheridan, Tom, 'Opposition, factions and candidates in AEU elections in Australia, 1907-1972', Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 22, September, 1980, pp. 134-168. Details
• Shields, John, 'A Matter of Skill: the Revival of Apprenticeship in Early Twentieth-Century NSW', Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 37, no. 3, 1995, pp. 236-262. Details

Online Resources

• 'Chart 15: Trade Unions - Manufacturing - Metals and Food', in Parties to the Award, 2002, http://www.atua.org.au/ptta/036.html. Details

See also

• Fisher, Chris, 'Technological Change and the Unions: The Case of the Marine Engineers before 1890', Labour History, vol. 41, 1981, pp. 29-40. Details
• Shields, John, 'Deskilling Revisited: Continuity and Change in Craft Work and Apprenticeship in Late Nineteenth Century New South Wales', Labour History, vol. 68, Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, Sydney, 1995, pp. 1-29. Details