Branch records

This series largely contains correspondence between individual branches of the Indian Workers Association and the General Secretary, or other members of the Central Committee, but also includes information circulars and promotional material such as flyers which were produced by individual branches to publicise events and campaigns they were involved with. Correspondence is concerned with the administration of branch affairs, and a common theme running through letters from several branches is of disputes between rival alliances of members formed to contest branch elections, which resulted in allegations that the elections had not been held fairly, and might also lead to splits within the branch which sometimes became permanent. Correspondence from the General Secretary is often concerned with resolving these disputes.

The majority of the papers in this series were originally stored in files labelled 'branch letters and activities' by Jagmohan Joshi, with the exception of the papers of the Birmingham branch. These papers are more substantial, presumably because office bearers of the national organisation, such as Jagmohan Joshi and particularly Avtar Jouhl, were also active in the local branch, with Avtar Jouhl taking the role of Secretary during most of the 1960s and the 1970s. They consist not only of correspondence and promotional material, but also include minutes and agendas; policy papers; partial membership records; and some press cuttings. These papers give a good indication of the activities and campaigns that the Birmingham branch was involved in, and also provide evidence of the administration of the branch, but do not comprise a full record. There is a fairly large amount of material dating from the early 1960s, and another concentration of material from the mid 1970s, but other papers are scattered across a fairly wide date range.

Branch records described at MS 2142/A/1/6: Papers of Avtar Jouhl and the Indian Workers Association provide evidence for the activities of several local branches during the 1980s and 1990s, including many of those represented in this section.