BRANCH CENTENARY 2001

Written by Lawrie McMenamin for the AGM 2001 (from Contact AGM Edition)

 Just this week I received a phone call from a Mr. McBride advising me, that he is in possession of a medal which is associated with the Glasgow Branch.

The year 2001 marks the Centenary of the formation of the Glasgow Branch of the Post Office Engineering Union. On our Ninetieth birthday we held a dance and Assistant Secretary, at that time, Ian Cuthbert produced a magazine outlining the Branch history.

One hundred years later after Two World Wars, a century of conflict and massive technological progress the branch is still here though now a part of the CWU after twelve years in the NCU. It is quite an achievement considering the changes over the last 100 years, to have survived in any fashion, and something which our founding members would be proud of.

Which brings me back to the medal, the caller was in fact the grandson of a Mr. William McBride, one of the founding members of the Branch way back in 1901.

According to the history of the POEU “W. McBride joined the National Telephone Company at Glasgow in 1895 and was employed fitting switchboards at 16 shillings a week , in 1897 he obtained an increase in lodging allowance from 1 shilling to l/8d a night as a result of writing to the manager. In 1901 the year of the Glasgow Exhibition, McBride and T.R. Shankland were summoned to a meeting in a Glasgow public house by a young man called Lou Summers. A local organisation was formed with Summers as Secretary: 1 shilling was charged as an entrance fee and a subscription of 3d per week, later increased to 6d was collected.”

In those days at the turn of the last century there was no recognised trade union for telephone services. The book also claims the reason for much of the disquiet, was due to the telephone service being taken under municipal control. In some ways a century later things have not really changed that much. We are facing in BT another major reorganisation which is causing uncertainty, as we still suffer the side effects of moving away from public control.

In the call centre environment we have hundreds of members working for employers who still do not recognise a Trade Union.

As I said earlier the founding members would be proud of the fact that the Branch has lasted one hundred years, though less happy that we still suffer from the issues which inspired them so long ago.

The medal in question was presented to William McBride in 1951 at a function in the Ca’dor’o building and was struck to recognise his involvement in forming the branch, half a century before.