National Union of Public Employees

The National Union of Public Employees (NUPE) was a British trade union which existed between 1908 and 1993. It represented public sector workers in local government, the Health Service, universities, and water authorities. History The union was founded in 1908 as the National Union of Corporation Workers, which split from the Municipal Employees Association, following Albin Taylor's dismissal as General Secretary. The union became NUPE in 1928. NUPE grew rapidly during the post=-Second World War expansion of the public sector, and especially during the 1960s and early 1970s. It grew from a membership of 250,100 in 1966 to 693,100 members in 1977, making it the fifth largest union in Britain. It was particularly successful in recruiting amongst sections of the workforce previously seen as a lower priority by rival trade unions (primarily the TGWU and the GMWU), such as part-time women workers, and it was these members who made NUPE the largest manual workers' union in local government by the 1970s.