Operative Bricklayers' Society

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The Operative Bricklayers' Society (OBS) was a British New Model Trade Union based in London.

The society was founded in 1818 as the London Bricklayers' Society, but by 1829 had developed into a national operative union. By the 1840s the union had about 1,400 members, roughly 2% of the total number of bricklayers in the country at the time. In 1859 the union became embroiled in a dispute with employers over the introduction of a nine-hour working day, and was lead in strike action by George Howell. The OBS was defeated, and subsequently only developed very gradually outside of London. By 1900 the union had 38,830 members, but roughly half were based in London. In 1921 the OBU merged with the Manchester Unity of Operative Bricklayers' Society and the Operative Society of Masons, Quarrymen and Allied Trades of England and Wales to form the Amalgamated Union of Building Trade Workers (AUBTW).