Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section
# Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section

The Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section (TASS) was a British trade union.

## History

The union was founded in 1913 by 200 draughtsmen, as the Association of Engineering and Shipbuilding Draughtsmen (AESD). It expanded rapidly, and had more than 14,000 member by the end of the decade. Although it declined during the Great Depression, it retained most of its members by offering unemployment benefit, and by 1939 established a new high of 23,000 members, this rising to 44,000 by the end of World War II and over 75,000 by 1968. From 1960, it accepted technicians in ancillary roles, changing its name to the Draughtsmen's and Allied Technicians' Association (DATA).

In 1970, DATA amalgamated with the Amalgamated Union of Engineering and Foundry Workers (AUEFW) and Constructional Engineering Union (CEU) to form the Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers (AUEW). The former members of DATA formed the Technical and Supervisory Section of the new union. At the 1973 Representative Council Conference it was agreed to rename it the Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section (TASS).

In 1985, after considerable problems within the AUEW, TASS broke away to become an independent union.

TASS absorbed the National Union of Gold, Silver and Allied Trades (NUGSAT) in 1981, the National Union of Sheet Metal Workers, Coppersmiths, Heating and Domestic Engineers in 1983, the Association of Patternmakers and Allied Craftsmen in 1984, the Tobacco Workers' Union in 1986, and the National Society of Metal Mechanics in 1987.

In 1988, it merged with the Association of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staffs (ASTMS) to become the Manufacturing Science and Finance Union (MSF). MSF in turn merged with the AEEU to form Amicus in 2002. This resulted in TASS and the former AUEW (by then part of the AEEU) being re-united within one union.

## Election results

The union sponsored Labour Party candidates in each Parliamentary election from 1950 onwards.

| Election | Constituency | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Position |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1950 general election | Bristol West | Edward Bishop | 12,677 | 30.0 | 2 |
| 1950 general election | South Buckinghamshire | Cyril Dee | 11,389 | 23.9 | 2 |
| 1951 general election | Exeter | Edward Bishop | 18,576 | 40.7 | 2 |
| 1951 general election | South Buckinghamshire | Cyril Dee | 14,170 | 31.4 | 2 |
| 1955 general election | Bromsgrove | Lester George | 22,287 | 44.8 | 2 |
| 1955 general election | South Gloucestershire | Edward Bishop | 20,034 | 47.4 | 2 |
| 1959 general election | Glasgow Cathcart | James Jarvie | 21,169 | 40.8 | 2 |
| 1959 general election | Wembley South | Edward Mackenzie | 12,166 | 32.6 | 2 |
| 1964 general election | Chislehurst | Ronald Huzzard | 20,736 | 41.2 | 2 |
| 1964 general election | Newark | Edward Bishop | 26,171 | 54.4 | 1 |
| 1964 general election | Tynemouth | Albert Booth | 25,894 | 43.7 | 2 |
| 1966 general election | Barrow-in-Furness | Albert Booth | 23,485 | 60.3 | 1 |
| 1966 general election | Newark | Edward Bishop | 27,402 | 56.7 | 1 |
| 1968 by-election | Bassetlaw | Joe Ashton | 21,394 | 49.6 | 1 |
| 1970 general election | Barrow-in-Furness | Albert Booth | 22,400 | 56.1 | 1 |
| 1970 general election | Bassetlaw | Joe Ashton | 28,959 | 54.9 | 1 |
| 1970 general election | Newark | Edward Bishop | 26,455 | 51.2 | 1 |
| 1970 general election | Oldham East | James Lamond | 17,020 | 51.1 | 1 |
| Feb 1974 general election | Barrow-in-Furness | Albert Booth | 19,925 | 46.1 | 1 |
| Feb 1974 general election | Bassetlaw | Joe Ashton | 33,724 | 60.0 | 1 |
| Feb 1974 general election | Newark | Edward Bishop | 31,586 | 53.8 | 1 |
| Feb 1974 general election | Oldham East | James Lamond | 18,548 | 48.2 | 1 |
| Oct 1974 general election | Barrow-in-Furness | Albert Booth | 21,607 | 51.4 | 1 |
| Oct 1974 general election | Bassetlaw | Joe Ashton | 28,663 | 53.7 | 1 |
| Oct 1974 general election | Newark | Edward Bishop | 26,598 | 47.9 | 1 |
| Oct 1974 general election | Oldham East | James Lamond | 19,054 | 52.8 | 1 |
| 1979 general election | Barrow-in-Furness | Albert Booth | 22,687 | 53.2 | 1 |
| 1979 general election | Bassetlaw | Joe Ashton | 29,426 | 50.2 | 1 |
| 1979 general election | Dundee West | Ernie Ross | 23,654 | 47.3 | 1 |
| 1979 general election | Newark | Edward Bishop | 25,960 | 43.0 | 2 |
| 1979 general election | Oldham East | James Lamond | 18,248 | 50.7 | 1 |
| 1983 general election | Barrow-in-Furness | Albert Booth | 17,707 | 34.7 | 2 |
| 1983 general election | Bassetlaw | Joe Ashton | 22,231 | 45.6 | 1 |
| 1983 general election | Chorley | Ivan Taylor | 17,586 | 30.5 | 2 |
| 1983 general election | Dundee West | Ernie Ross | 20,288 | 43.4 | 1 |
| 1983 general election | Oldham Central and Royton | James Lamond | 18,611 | 41.4 | 1 |
| 1983 general election | Preston | Stan Thorne | 21,810 | 46.7 | 1 |
| 1983 general election | Stockport | Peter R. Ward | 12,731 | 29.0 | 2 |
| 1983 general election | Stockton North | Frank Cook | 18,339 | 37.1 | 1 |
| 1987 general election | Bassetlaw | Joe Ashton | 25,385 | 48.1 | 1 |
| 1987 general election | Dundee West | Ernie Ross | 24,916 | 53.4 | 1 |
| 1987 general election | Glasgow Springburn | Michael Martin | 25,617 | 73.6 | 1 |
| 1987 general election | Oldham Central and Royton | James Lamond | 21,759 | 48.1 | 1 |
| 1987 general election | Stockton North | Frank Cook | 26,043 | 49.2 | 1 |

## Leadership

### General Secretaries

    1913: L. Blair
    1918: Peter Doig
    1945: James Young
    1952: George Doughty
    1974: Ken Gill

### Assistant General Secretaries

    1919: David Manteklow
    1920: David Manteklow and James Young
    1929: Post vacant
    1946: John Holland
    1956: J. Dickinson

### Deputy General Secretaries

    1968: Ken Gill
    1973: John Forrester
    1979: Eric Winterbottom
    1983: Barbara Switzer
