National Union of Sheet Metal Workers, Coppersmiths, Heating and Domestic Engineers and predecessors

This list includes records of the National Union of Sheet Metal Workers and Braziers. Additional records for the NUSMW&B are listed under that collection.

NEC minutes, 1960-83 (incomplete); biennial and other conference reports, 1933-83 (incomplete); reports, 1961-83 (incomplete); Monthly/Quarterly Journal, 1921-43; Fusion, 1947-69 (incomplete); district and branch minutes.

The National Union of Sheet Metal Workers and Braziers was formed in July 1920 by an amalgamation of a large number of local societies which had previously been associated in a looser federal structure in the National Amalgamated Sheet Metal Workers and Braziers. In July 1959 it merged with the National Society of Coppersmiths, Braziers and Metalworkers to form the National Union of Sheet Metal Workers and Coppersmiths. In April 1967 this amalgamated with the Heating and Domestic Engineers' Union to form the National Union of Sheet Metal Workers, Coppersmiths, Heating and Domestic Engineers. This union's rules of 1973 and 1975 are marked 'instituted 1921', suggesting direct continuity with the National Union of Sheet Metal Workers and Braziers. In 1983 the National Union of Sheet Metal Workers, Coppersmiths, Heating and Domestic Engineers merged with the Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers (Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section) (TASS).

Reference: Ted Brake, Men of Good Character: A history of the National Union of Sheet Metal Workers, Coppersmiths, Heating and Domestic Engineers( Lawrence and Wishart: London, 1985).

The records form part of the archive of Manufacturing, Science, Finance (MSS.101) and within that are a constitutent of the larger archive of the National Union of Sheet Metal Workers, Coppersmiths, Heating and Domestic Engineers (MSS.101/SM), which includes the archives of many other predecessors and constituents of the National Union.

This collection is available to researchers by appointment at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick. See http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/library/mrc/using/

This archive was transferred to the Modern Records Centre from the National Museum of Labour History in October 1989 and April 1990. Accession 1193 was transferred from the Working Class Movement Library in 2017.

Link to full catalogue: http://mrc-catalogue.warwick.ac.uk/records/SMB

There are no restrictions on the use of this archive, apart from the requirements of copyright law.

This collection has been weeded for duplicates.

Further deposits are not expected.

The records of many of the National Union's predecessors are also held at the Modern Records Centre (MSS.101/SM). These include some other records of the National Union itself (MSS.101/SM/NAS). There are also further papers of the National Union elsewhere in the Centre's archives (MSS.411/SM).