View source for National Union of Knitwear, Footwear and Apparel Trades

{{short description|Former trade union of the United Kingdom}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox organization
| name         = KFAT
| location_country= [[United Kingdom]]
| affiliation  = [[Trades Union Congress|TUC]]
| members      = 82,303 (1991)<br />16,000 (2002)
| full_name    = National Union of Knitwear, Footwear and Apparel Trades
| image        = File:National Union of Knitwear, Footwear and Apparel Trades logo.png
| founded      = 1991
| dissolved    = 2004
| merged       = [[Community (trade union)|Community]]
| headquarters = 55 New Walk, [[Leicester]]
| key_people   =
| website      = {{URL|www.kfat.org.uk}}
| footnotes    =
}}
The '''National Union of Knitwear, Footwear and Apparel Trades''' ('''KFAT''') was a [[trade union]] in the [[United Kingdom]].
==History==
The National Union of Knitwear, Footwear and Apparel Trades was formed in 1991 through the amalgamation of the [[National Union of Hosiery and Knitwear Workers]] and the [[National Union of the Footwear, Leather and Allied Trades]].<ref name=Undy>{{cite book |last=Undy |first=Roger |title=Trade Union Merger Strategies: Purpose, Process, and Performance |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MCdOoceoAqgC |accessdate=11 April 2013 |year=2008 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford |isbn=<!--0191562688 -->9780191562686 |page=257}}</ref> It had 82,303 members when it was formed.<ref name=Undy/> KFAT organised a range of clothing-related workers and was particularly strong in areas of the [[East Midlands]] including [[Nottinghamshire]], [[Leicestershire]] and [[Northamptonshire]], with other members in [[Lancashire]] textile regions and the [[Yorkshire]] leather-producing industry. It absorbed the [[Rossendale Union of Boot, Shoe and Slipper Operatives]] in the mid-1990s.<ref name=Farnham>{{cite book |last=Farnham |first=David |title=Employment Relations in Context |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GsaQLY3w-Y4C |accessdate=11 April 2013 |edition=2nd |orig-year=1997 |year=2000 |publisher=[[Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development]] |location=London |isbn=0-85292-876-9 |page=270}}</ref> The union was notable for its high proportion of female members - roughly half of its members in 2004 being women.
After initially considering amalgamation with the [[National Union of Tailors and Garment Workers]] KFAT merged with the [[Iron and Steel Trades Confederation]] in 2004 to form [[Community (trade union)|Community]].<ref name=Waddington>{{cite book |last1=Waddington |first1=Jeremy |last2=Kahmann |first2=Marcus |last3=Hoffmann |first3=Jürgen |title=A Comparison of the Trade Union Merger Process in Britain and Germany: Joining forces? |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hE4XVzWMgz0C |accessdate=11 April 2013 |year=2005 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |location=Abingdon |isbn=0-415-35378-5 |page=124}}</ref>
==Leadership==
{{unreferenced section|date=November 2022}}
===General presidents===
:1991: [[David Lambert (trade unionist, born 1933)|David Lambert]]
:1994: [[Helen McGrath]]
:1999: Tony Hallam
===General secretaries===
:1991: [[George Browett]]
:1992: [[Helen McGrath]]
:1994: Paul Gates
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
*[https://mrc.epexio.com/records/KFA Catalogue of the KFAT archives], held at the [[Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick]]
{{Portal|Organized labour}}
{{Authority control}}
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[[Category:Defunct trade unions of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Textile and clothing trade unions]]
[[Category:1991 establishments in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Trade unions established in 1991]]
[[Category:Trade unions disestablished in 2004]]
[[Category:Trade unions based in Leicestershire]]
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