Connect (British trade union)

Connect
Merged into	Prospect
Founded	1912
Dissolved	1 January 2010
Headquarters	102–104 Sheen Road, Richmond upon Thames
Location	United Kingdom;
Members	20,000 (2010)
Key people	Adrian Askew, final general secretary
Publication	The Review
Affiliations	TUC
Website	www.connectuk.org

Connect was a British trade union representing workers in the communications industry.

History

The union was founded in 1912 as the Society of Post Office Engineering Inspectors. In 1947, the Society of Chief Inspectors merged in, and it adopted the new name of the Society of Telecommunication Engineers. Another merger took place in 1969, when the Telecommunication Traffic Officers' Association joined, with the name changing to the Society of Post Office Engineers, and in 1975 the Telecommunications Sales Superintendents' Association merged in, and it became the Society of Post Office Executives (SPOE), by which point it had more than 20,000 members.^[2]

Around the turn of 1983, the union became the Society of Telecom Executives, then finally it became Connect in 2000.^[3]

Connect's final president was Denise McGuire, while its final general secretary was Adrian Askew. In 2010, Connect merged into Prospect, the union for managers and engineers.

Overview

Certain employers formally recognised Connect, for example, companies like BT Group, O2 plc, Yell Group, Guernsey Telecoms, HP, Vodafone UK and Kingston Communications. In these companies Connect negotiates on members' behalf.

In companies where there is growing membership but no formal recognition as yet, such as T-Mobile or Energis, employees still can access union services.

Disputes

Connect Members in BT undertook industrial action in 2008.

References

^ ^a ^b Marsh, Arthur (1984). Trade Union Handbook (3 ed.). Aldershot: Gower. pp. 285–286. ISBN 0566024268.
^ Jack Eaton and Colin Gill (1981) The Trade Union Directory, pp.280-281
^ University of Warwick, "Society of Post Office Executives"