Transport and General Workers Union central office
Front door of the central office
The Transport and General Workers' Union, also known as the TGWU and the T&G, is one of the largest generaltrade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland - where it is known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union (ATGWU) - with 900,000 members (and was once the largest trade union in the world). It was founded in 1922, and its current general secretary is Tony Woodley.
On May 25, 2005, the TGWU called the Government's plans for a British national identity card 'an enormous, costly and unnecessary diversion' despite their General Secretary and other representatives supporting its inclusion in the Labour Party's 2005manifesto.
History
At the time of its creation in 1922, the TGWU was the largest and most ambitious amalgamation brought about within trade unionism. Its structure combined regional organisation, based on Districts and Areas, with organisation by occupation, based on six broad Trade Groups. The amalgamating unions were:
