Scale Trade Unions

The Minute Book of the General Council of the International Working Men's Association from August 21, 1866 records the 'Reports of Deputations', where Cit. Jung (a leading figure in the international working class movement along with Karl Marx) reported that he had ‘………also waited on the Scale Makers, and had arranged to visit them a second time'.

 

Three separate organisations were formed around 1890 to represent employees.  In London there were the London Society of Scale Beam and Weighing Machine Makers, and the London Journeymen Scalemakers Trade Protection and Benefit Society, and in Manchester The Society of Scale, Beam and Weighing Machinists.

 

In 1909 the Amalgamated Society of Scale, Beam and Weighing Machine Makers was formed from these groups, and survived a split in the membership in 1923 when the London members broke away to form their own organisation.  The warring factions were brought together by the TUC in 1928 and adopted the simpler name of the National Union of Scalemakers (NUS) in 1930.

 

NUS membership passed the 1,000 mark in 1937 and following the acceptance of women as members in 1941 passed 2000.  In 1993 the union merged with MSF, who subsequently joined with the AEEU to create Amicus, which in 2007 merged with the Transport and General Workers Union to form Unite the Union.