Postmen's Federation

The Postmen's Federation was a trade union representing postal workers in the United Kingdom.

Postmen's Federation

Predecessor	Postmen's Union
Merged into	Union of Post Office Workers
Founded	1891
Dissolved	1919
Headquarters	Parliament Mansions, Victoria Street, London
Location	United Kingdom
Members	31,000 (1906)
Key people	George Harold Stuart
Affiliations	TUC, Labour

In 1889, a "Postmen's Union" was founded in Clerkenwell by Tom Dredge and John Lincoln Mahon. This dissolved after many of its members were sacked, but two years later, C. Churchfield established the "Postmen's Federation" as a more cautious organisation. It immediately recruited 3,721 members, and survived, offering welfare benefits to members from 1895 and publishing The Postmen's Gazette.^[1]

By 1901, the union was becoming more confident, and felt able to affiliate to the Trades Union Congress and the Labour Representation Committee. Membership was over 31,000 by 1906.^[1]

In 1912, George Harold Stuart was elected as general secretary; Duncan Campbell-Smith describes him as the "single most impressive officer among all the postal union staffs". Under his leadership, the union began admitting women. It negotiated a merger with the Fawcett Association and the Postal and Telegraph Clerks' Association in 1919, forming the Union of Post Office Workers.^[2]

General Secretaries

1891: Charles Churchfield

1901: Alexander MacLaren

1910: T. Robinson

1912: George Harold Stuart