GMB Union

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**GMB**

GMB - Britain's General Union
Founded	March 31, 1889 [1]
Members	600,000
Country	United Kingdom
Affiliation	TUC, STUC
Key people	Paul Kenny, general secretary
Office location	London, England
Website	www.gmb.org.uk

The GMB is a general trade union in the United Kingdom, and has more than 600,000 members. The GMB originates from a merger of the National Amalgamated Union of Labour, National Union of General Workers and the Municipal Employers Association in 1924, named the National Union of General and Municipal Workers.

The union merged with many others including the Amalgamated Society of Boilermakers, Shipbuilders and Structural Workers, APEX, the Furniture, Timber and Allied Trades Union and the National Union of Tailors and Garment Workers.

In 1982, the union was renamed the General, Municipal, Boilermakers and Allied Trade Union, from the initials of which its present name is derived.

Its members are drawn from many sectors, with particular strength amongst manual workers in local government and the health service. There are organised GMB branches at 34 of Britain's 50 largest companies.

The union is affiliated to the Labour Party. It is led by a general secretary. In 2005, Paul Kenny was appointed the acting general secretary, in place of Kevin Curran who stepped down after being suspended on full pay during an inquiry into alleged ballot-rigging during the union's leadership election. The episode was seen as a power struggle between the national office and powerful regional heads, led by Kenny, who opposed centralisation. Kenny had lost the 2003 vote to Curran. In May 2006, Kenny was elected unopposed as general secretary