View source for Flint Glass Makers' Sick and Friendly Society

{{short description|Former trade union of the United Kingdom}}
[[File:National_Flint_Glass_Makers'_Society_logo.jpg|thumb|right|Logo of the union]]
The '''Flint Glass Makers' Sick and Friendly Society''', often known as the '''Flint Glass Makers' Friendly Society''' (FGMFS) was a [[trade union]] in the [[United Kingdom]].
The union was founded in 1844 as the '''United Flint Glass Makers Society'''.<ref>Arthur Marsh and Victoria Ryan, ''Historical directory of trade unions, Volume 6'', p.86</ref>  This union was bankrupted by an unsuccessful [[Strike action|strike]] at the [[Five Ways, Birmingham|Five Ways]] Flint Glass Works in 1848, and it was therefore reorganised as the FGMFS at a meeting in Manchester the following year.  Initially, it included members from Lancashire, Yorkshire, the West Midlands, Edinburgh and Dublin.  By 1850, the union had nearly 1,000 members.<ref>Takao Matsumura, ''The Labour Aristocracy Revisited: The Victorian Flint Glass Makers 1850-80'', pp.87-88</ref>
The union's Central Secretary had considerable power, including the ability to appoint the entire Central Committee.  However, they were initially subject to election every three years, and only one Secretary was ever re-elected: T. J. Wilkinson in 1870.  The union also published the monthly ''Flint Glass Makers' Magazine'',<ref>Takao Matsumura, ''The Labour Aristocracy Revisited: The Victorian Flint Glass Makers 1850-80'', pp.89-91</ref> and was supportive of [[George Potter (trade unionist)|George Potter]] and the early [[Trades Union Congress]] (TUC), Wilkinson serving as [[President of the Trades Union Congress|its President]] in 1869.<ref>Takao Matsumura, ''The Labour Aristocracy Revisited: The Victorian Flint Glass Makers 1850-80'', pp.167-168</ref>
The FGMFS was the richest union of its day, and was able to pay pensions and ill health benefits to its members.<ref>Takao Matsumura, ''The Labour Aristocracy Revisited: The Victorian Flint Glass Makers 1850-80'', p.105</ref>  It campaigned for the repeal the [[Master and Servant Act]], but the revised [[Master and Servant Act 1867|1867 Act]] met most of its demands, and it ceased political intervention.<ref>Takao Matsumura, ''The Labour Aristocracy Revisited: The Victorian Flint Glass Makers 1850-80'', p.167</ref>
In 1899, the union was renamed as the '''National Flint Glass Makers' Society of Great Britain and Ireland'''.<ref name="mrc" />  A group of members in Leeds left in 1903 to form the rival [[National Glass Bottle Makers' Society]].<ref>[[University of Warwick]], "[http://mrc-catalogue.warwick.ac.uk/records/GBM National Glass Bottle Makers' Society of Great Britain and Ireland, 1903-1925]"</ref>  The remaining union against changed its name in 1935, becoming the '''National Flint Glass Makers' Friendly Society of Great Britain and Ireland'''.  In 1948, it merged with the [[National Union of Glass Cutters and Decorators]], and changed its name to the '''National Union of Flint Glass Workers'''.<ref name="mrc">"[http://dscalm.warwick.ac.uk/DServe/dserve.exe?&dsqIni=Dserve3.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=show.tcl&dsqKey=RefNo&dsqSearch=%28RefNO=%27FGM%27%29AND%28Level=%27Collection%27%29 National Flint Glass Makers' Friendly Society of Great Britain and Ireland]", [[Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick]]</ref>
The new union did not affiliate to the [[Trades Union Congress]] or any other trade union organisations.  Although it had members across the UK, its small membership was concentrated in [[Stourbridge]], where it had its headquarters.<ref>Arthur Marsh and Victoria Ryan, ''Historical Directory of Trade Unions'', vol.1, p.341</ref>  Its long-term secretary died in 2005, and with only 149 members and a weak financial position, it dissolved in 2006.<ref>{{cite web |title=Annual Return for a Trade Union: The National Union of Flint Glassworkers |url=http://www.certoffice.org/Nav/Trade-Unions/National-Union-of-Flint-Glassworkers.aspx |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140701203341/http://www.certoffice.org/Nav/Trade-Unions/National-Union-of-Flint-Glassworkers.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-date=1 July 2014 |website=Trade Union Certification Officer |publisher=The National Archives |accessdate=19 December 2019 }}</ref>
==References==
<references />
[[Category:Organizations established in 1844]]
[[Category:Trade unions disestablished in 2006]]
[[Category:Defunct trade unions of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Glass trade unions]]
[[Category:Trade unions established in the 1840s]]
[[Category:Trade unions based in the West Midlands (county)]]