Amalgamated Society of Steel and Iron Workers of Great Britain Amalgamated Society of Steel and Iron Workers of Great Britain The Amalgamated Society of Steel and Iron Workers of Great Britain was a trade union representing workers in iron- and steelworks, principally in Scotland. The union was founded in Glasgow in 1888 and was originally named the Associated Society of Millmen. John Hodge of the British Steel Smelters Association (BSSA) acted as the union's first secretary, but he stood down a year later, when members elected their own representative, John Cronin. The union grew rapidly, despite charging new members a one-off fee of 5 shillings, membership reaching 3,000 by 1892,
John Bull French. In 1966, "The Times", criticising the Unionist government of Northern Ireland, branded the region "John Bull's Political Slum." Increasingly through the early twentieth century, John Bull became seen as not particularly representative of "the common man," and during the First World War this function was largely taken over by the figure of Tommy Atkins. John Bull's surname is also reminiscent of the alleged fondness of the English for beef, reflected in the French nickname for English people, "les rosbifs," which translates as "the 'Roast Beefs.'" It is also reminiscent of the animal, and for that reason Bull is portrayed