Series NUW/2 - Records of Bert Hazell, District Organiser

Bert Hazell was a Labour Party politician and trade union activist. He became a District Organiser within the Yorkshire County Committee in the 1930s, after which he moved to Acomb, York. He was the president of the National Union of Agricultural Workers, and then the National Union of Agricultural and Allied Workers between 1966 and 1978. Having previously campaigned unsuccessfully as a parliamentary candidate, he became the Labour Party MP for North Norfolk and retained this position until 1970.

He was made an MBE in 1946 for services to agriculture, and a CBE in 1962 for services as chairman of the regional board for industry.

Later in life Hazell sat on committees within York, including the North Yorkshire Manpower Services Commission and the York Health Board.

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.