Association of Scientific, Technical and Management Staffs
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| Full name | Association of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staffs |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1969 |
| Date dissolved | 1988 |
| Merged into | Manufacturing, Science and Finance |
| Members | 441,000 (1977) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
The Association of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staffs (ASTMS) was a British trade union which existed between 1969 and 1988.
The ASTMS was created in 1969 when ASSET (the Association of Supervisory Staffs, Executives and Technicians) merged with the AScW (the Association of Scientific Workers) under the leadership of joint general secretaries: Clive Jenkins of ASSET and John Dutton of the AScW.
ASSET, the larger of the two unions, began as the National Foremen's Association and chiefly represented supervisors in metal working and transport. Covering both the public and private sectors, AScW largely represented laboratory and technical workers in universities, the National Health Service and in chemical and metal manufacturing. The AScW could name half-a-dozen Nobel prize winners amongst its membership.
By the end of 1970 Clive Jenkins had become sole general secretary of the union. With advertising and personal appearances on television he kept ASTMS in the public's eye, within 15 years the union had expanded from 65,000 members to a figure approaching 500,000. This was achieved both by individual recruitment and by merging with small unions and staff associations, such as the Managers' and Overlookers' Society, Medical Practitioners' Union, the United Commercial Travellers' Association of Great Britain and Ireland, the Union of Insurance Staffs and the Prudential Assurance Staff Association. The number of mergers was eventually to exceed 30.
In 1976 trade union activist Sheila McKechnie was appointed as the full-time Health and Safety Director of ASTMS. McKechnie remained with ASTMS until her appointment as Chief Executive of the homeless charity Shelter.
In 1988 ASTMS merged with TASS (Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section), the federated white collar section of the AUEW (Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers) to form MSF (Manufacturing, Science and Finance). On January 1, 2002 MSF was to amalgamate with the AEEU (Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union, a successor to AUEW) to form Amicus.
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