Association of Women Clerks and Secretaries explained

The Association of Women Clerks and Secretaries (AWCS) was a British trade union from 1912 to 1941.

History

The union formed in 1903 as the Association of Shorthand Writers and Typists and changed its name in 1912 to AWCS.^[1] It grew, partly because of World War I, from fewer than 900 members in 1916 to around 8000 in 1920. It became a member of the Trades Union Congress in 1919.^[2]

Anne Godwin joined the union in 1920 and became its main organizer in 1928.^[3]

In 1941 AWCS merged with the National Union of Clerks and Administrative Workers to form the Clerical and Administrative Workers Union.^{[1] [4]}

General Secretaries

1911: Florence

1916: Mabel Basnett

1918: Dorothy Evans

1931: Anne Godwin

Archives

Records of the AWCS are kept in the London Metropolitan University's Trades Union Congress Library Collections.^[1]

References

1. http://archiveshub.ac.uk/search/summary.html?recid=gb1924-hd6661z7&rsid=720eb6d&hit=0&startRecord=1&maximumRecords=20&sortBy=dc.title/ascending#rightcol Archives Hub
2. http://www.wcml.org.uk/wcml/en/our-collections/working-lives/clerks-and-secretaries/association-of-women-clerks-and-secretaries/ Association of Women Clerks and Secretaries
3. http://www.wcml.org.uk/our-collections/working-lives/clerks-and-secretaries/dame-anne-godwin/ Dame Anne Godwin: trade union leader
4. http://www.wcml.org.uk/our-collections/working-lives/clerks-and-secretaries/clerks-unions/ Clerks union timeline

Further research

• Arthur Marsh; Victoria Ryan. 1997. The Clerks: a history of APEX, 1890-1989. Malthouse P.
• Historical Directory of Trade Unions, vol 1, pg. 46