ABSTRACT
Traditionally, it seems, Irish boot and shoe makers were in membership of British unions based in London and elsewhere. By the 1920s these various unions were consolidated into the National Union of Boot and Shoe Operatives. Several abortive attempts were made at that time and again in the 1930s to form a viable Irish trade union for boot, shoe and leather workers in the Republic [see City of Dublin Union of Hand Sewn Boot and Shoe Makers [qv] and in the 1930s, the Irish National Union of Boot and Leather Workers and Irish Shoemakers and Repairers Union [qv]] to compete effectively with NUBSO. All of these failed. From 1 January 1953, however, NUBSO surrendered its Irish membership to allow for the formation of an Irish Shoe and Leather Workers Union [qv].
