National Union of Agricultural and Allied Workers, Yorkshire County Committee, 1920-1981

• National Union of Agricultural Workers (NUAW), Yorkshire County Committee, 1920-1968; National Union of Agricultural and Allied Workers, Yorkshire Area Committee

The Yorkshire County Committee was established in 1920, as a regional committee of what was then the The National Union of Agricultural Workers (NUAW). The name was later changed to the Yorkshire Area Committee until the NUAAW's merger with TGWU in 1981. The committee, and the NUAW in general, worked closely with the Labour Party, and several prominent individuals with the Yorkshire area, in particular Joan Maynard (1921-1998) and Bert Hazell (1907-2009) who went on to take positions within the national Executive Committee of the NUAAW, later became Labour Party MPs.

The union also worked closed with other unions in the area, including the Northern Regional Council for County Council Roadmen.

The National Union of Agricultural and Allied Workers
The NUAW was the first successful national body for farm workers, initially presided over by Joseph Arch. It began as the National Agricultural Labourers' Union in 1872 before changing to the National Union of Agricultural Workers in July 1906. In 1910 they changed their name to the National Agricultural Labourers and Rural Workers Union, again in 1920 to the National Union of Agricultural Workers (NUAW), and again in 1968 to the National Union of Agricultural and Allied Workers (NUAAW). This name then remained until the union was amalgamated with the Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU) in 1981. TGWU merged with Amicus in 2007 to form part of the new, Unite the Union.

NUAW membership was largely made up of farm agricultural labourers but also catered for non-farm workers such as those in forestry, market gardening, and gardeners. The union published its own journal, 'The Land Worker', which included reports on the activities of the unions across the country.

Trade union representing agricultural workers across Yorkshire, which campaigned for employee rights and working conditions.

The committee covered the whole of the Yorkshire area, and was organised into district committees within the East Riding, North Riding, and West Riding of Yorkshire. These district committees, made up of smaller local branches, reported to their respective riding committee, which in turn reported to the the Yorkshire County Committee, who then reported to the national Executive Committee of the NUAAW.

The county committee was governed by a country secretary and District Organisers.

Each riding also had their own wages committee, the North Riding of Yorkshire Agricultural Wages Committee, the East Riding of Yorkshire Agricultural Wages Committee, and the West Riding of Yorkshire Agricultural Wages Committee, which also reported to the Yorkshire County Committee.

ISAAR(CPF): International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families, International Council on Archives (2nd edition, 2003)
NCA Rules: Rules for the construction of personal, place and corporate names, National Council on Archives (1997)

Information on the catalogues of the Museum of English Rural Life and on the catalogue of the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick.
Information found in the records in NUW.
The Landworker journal, various editions.

Updated by HWaughman, 18/09/2024