Amalgamated Engineering Union
trade union in the UK
The Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU) was a major British trade union. It merged with the Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union to form the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union in 1992.
History
The history of the union can be traced back to the formation of the Journeymen Steam Engine, Machine Makers' and Millwrights' Friendly Society, in 1826, popularly known as the "Old Mechanics". They invited a large number of other unions to become part of what became the Amalgamated Society of Engineers (ASE).
In 1920, the ASE put out a fresh call for other unions to merge with it in a renamed Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU). Seventeen unions balloted their members on a possible merger, and nine voted in favour of amalgamation:
Amalgamated Association of Brass Turners, Fitters, Finishers and Coppersmiths
Amalgamated Instrument Makers' Society
Amalgamated Society of General Tool Makers, Engineers and Machinists
East of Scotland Brass Founders' Society
London United Metal Turners', Fitters' and Finishers' Society
North of England Brass Turners', Fitters' and Finishers' Society
Steam Engine Makers' Society (SEM)
United Kingdom Society of Amalgamated Smiths and Strikers
United Machine Workers' Association
The resulting union had a membership of 450,000, about 300,000 coming from the ASE.
In 1922 employers, represented by the Engineering Employers' Federation, launched an industry-wide lockout in an attempt to reverse the gains made by the AEU during WWI and its aftermath. Exploiting the downturn in economic conditions in the engineering industry, they demanded the union forfeit control over overtime. The lockout lasted from 11 March to 13 June and involved 260,000 workers, 90,000 of them represented by the AEU. The lockout ended with the union conceding some of the employers' demands.
The AEU continued to grow and absorb smaller unions. From 1926, it accepted members who had not completed an apprenticeship.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q28195110. VIAF identifies the subject as 137799600. The Library of Congress control number is n50062769. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1992, 1826, 1920 and 1922.
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