^{This page is part of © FOTW Flags Of The World website}

GMB Union Flag (United Kingdom)

image by Rob Raeside, 23 January 2019

About the flag

See also:

United Kingdom

About the Flag

Flag: Rectangle 3:3. Horizontally divided red (2 units) above black (1 unit). Red area charged with the white letters GMB and black area charged with the white letters GMB@WORK.
"The dispute involves around 120 workers at the Tower [of London] and five royal palaces, and also includes gardeners, store clerks and some administrative staff. They’ve been waging a year-long battle with the charity that runs the landmarks, called Historic Royal Palaces (HRP), over a proposal to switch them from a defined-benefit to a defined-contribution pension plan.”
“The Beefeaters date back to 1485, when Henry VII set up a special unit of soldiers to guard prisoners in the Tower. Today, there are about 40 Beefeaters who are all retired soldiers and spend their time guiding tourists, guarding the crown jewels and participating in ceremonial events."
Source: Waldie, Paul. “Britain’s famous Beefeaters strike over proposed pension changes.” The Globe and Mail 23 Jan. 2019, B3.

Established: "1 July 1924. Members: 622,956 (2015). Affiliations: TUC, ICTU, STUC, CSEU, Labour Party."
"The GMB is a general trade union in the United Kingdom which has more than 631,000 members. GMB members work in nearly all industrial sectors, in retail, security, schools, distribution and the utilities, social care, the NHS and ambulance service and local government.”
"GMB is the result of amalgamations with many other unions, although, until the 1980s, most unions merging in were small. In 1982, following a merger with the Amalgamated Society of Boilermakers, Shipwrights, Blacksmiths and Structural Workers (ASBSBSW), the union was renamed the General, Municipal, Boilermakers and Allied Trade Union, from the initials of which its present name, which was officially adopted in 1987, is derived, although the abbreviation had been used since 1982. For several years following the highly contested merger boilermaker members retained a distinct identity in GMB's 'Craft Section’.”
"The union has absorbed [37] smaller unions."
Source: accessed 23 January 2019, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GMB_(trade_union)
Peter Edwards, 23 January 2019