Union of Insurance Staffs (UIS), the Guild of Insurance Officials (GIO) before 1969

This collection includes: national council, annual conference and committee minutes and papers; company files and other operational records; membership records; periodical and other publications; branch records.

The union was known as the Guild of Insurance Officials for much of its existence. It was founded in 1919 at a time when the earnings of office staffs were under acute inflationary pressure. The initial hope of the GIO was for a Whitley Council When this was not created its aim remained the establishment of joint negotiating machinery with the employers. The first such joint body was set up in the 1950s. In the early 1960s the GIO expanded its full-time staff and when membership fell off dramatically, after 1966, a financial crisis ensued. In 1969 the GIO changed its name to the Union of Insurance Staffs and in 1970 the UIS transferred its engagements to the Association of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staffs (ASTMS). Throughout its history the GIO had a substantial proportion of women members.

The GIO's main offices in London were destroyed by bombing in May 1941 and apparently many files were destroyed. As the most important records (minute books, etc) had been placed in storage in Devon they have survived.

Reference: F. Ashton, History of the Guild of Insurance Officials (1969)

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/

Deposited by the Association of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staffs (ASTMS).

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