The London Trades Council was an early

labour organisation A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (s ...

, uniting

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

trade unionist A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (s ...

s. Its modern successor organisation is the Greater London Association of Trades (Union) Councils

History

Leading figures in the London trade union movement convened occasional meetings of the "Metropolitan Trades Delegates" from 1848, meeting at the Old Bell Inn by the

Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...

. The London builders' strike of 1859 required ongoing co-ordination, and it was determined to organise a

trades council A labour council, trades council or industrial council is an association of labour unions or union branches in a given area. Most commonly, they represent unions in a given geographical area, whether at the district, city, region, or provincial or ...

. The formation of the London Trades Council was organised at George Potter's Building Trades Conference and led by George Odger's

Operative Bricklayers' Society The Operative Bricklayers' Society (OBS) was a British New Model Trade Union based in London. History 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 unions agreed to demand a maximum working day of nine hours from their employers. The employers refused, resulting in

strike action Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became common during the ...

and a lockout. Eventually the unions conceded, but the

solidarity ''Solidarity'' is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. It is based on class collaboration.''Merriam Webster'', http://www.merriam-webster.com/dicti ...

built prompted the formation of a citywide body able to co-ordinate future action.{{cite book , last1=Jacobs , first1=Julius , title=London Trades Council: 1860-1950: a history , date=1950 , publisher=Lawrence & Wishart , location=London The London Trades Council was founded at a meeting at Shaftesbury Hall on 18 May 1860, and it may well have been the fourth such organisation in the country, after the

Sheffield Trades Council The Sheffield Trades and Labour Council, usually known as the Sheffield Trades Council, is a labour organisation uniting trade unionists in Sheffield. Precursors The earliest recorded attempt to found an alliance of trade unions in the city is th ...

and Glasgow Trades Council (both founded in 1858) and the

Edinburgh Trades Council {{Use British English, date=February 2017 The Edinburgh Trade Union Council brings together trade union branches in Edinburgh in Scotland. The first permanent trades council in Edinburgh appears to have been formed in 1853, one of the first in the ...

(founded in 1859

The council charged affiliates two shillings per hundred members, and thereby covered its expenses. By 1862, it had a paid membership of 11,300, although attendees at its various meetings represented unions with a total of around 50,000 members. Through the early 1860s, many individuals who later became prominent in the national trade union movement won seats on the executive of the council: Heap (ASE), George Howell, Edwin Coulson, George Odger, Goddard (Bookbinders),

Robert Applegarth Robert Applegarth (26 January 1834 – 13 July 1924) was a prominent British trade unionist and proponent of working class causes. Biography Robert Applegarth was born in Hull in England. His father was the captain of a whaling brig. He spent a b ...

Daniel Guile Daniel Guile (21 October 1814 – 7 December 1882) was a British trade unionist. Born in Liverpool, Guile was the son of William and Elizabeth. His father worked as a shoemaker but struggled to find work during the mid-1820s. Daniel, there ...

, and later Robert Allan. It supported unions in numerous conflicts in London, with the builders' strike of 1861 proving particularly successful, but its support for the South Staffordshire Miners did not achieve success, and Potter's unilateral efforts to support North Staffordshire members of the National Association of Ironfounders in 1865 led to his isolation on the council. As the national

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions in England and Wales, representing the majority of trade unions. There are 48 affiliated unions, with a total of about 5.5 million members. Frances ...

(TUC) was not founded until 1868 (largely as a response by Trades Councils in Northern England to the perceived dominance of the London Trades Council), the London body initially provided a focus for many national campaigns, and its early leaders became known as the "

Junta Junta may refer to: Government and military * Junta (governing body) (from Spanish), the name of various historical and current governments and governing institutions, including civil ones ** Military junta, one form of junta, government led by a ...

". It campaigned for the right of

working men The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colo ...

to vote, for legislation to improve working conditions, and for a

Conciliation and Arbitration Act Conciliation is an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) process whereby the parties to a dispute use a conciliator, who meets with the parties both separately and together in an attempt to resolve their differences. They do this by lowering te ...

. It also supported the Glasgow Trades Council's campaign against the

Master and Servant Act Master and Servant Acts or Masters and Servants Acts were laws designed to regulate relations between employers and employees during the 18th and 19th centuries. An 1823 United Kingdom Act described its purpose as "the better regulations of serva ...

. However, its support for the United Kingdom Alliance of Organised Trades, founded just before the Sheffield Outrages, did not bear fruit, and the Council were not officially represented at the TUC until its second conferenc

The Council co-operated closely with the

International Workingmen's Association The International Workingmen's Association (IWA), often called the First International (1864–1876), was an international organisation which aimed at uniting a variety of different left-wing socialist, communist and anarchist groups and trad ...

(sometimes referred to as the ''First International''), but voted against affiliating to the bod

With the growth of the TUC, the London Trades Council lost its national leadership role, but remained the most important trades council in the country. Odger devoted more time to the TUC, and George Shipton became the secretary of the council, launching the ''Labour Standard'' as its newspaper, giving particular support to the National Fair Trade League. London was the main centre of the New Unionism from 1888, but the council was dominated by

craft union Craft unionism refers to a model of trade unionism in which workers are organised based on the particular craft or trade in which they work. It contrasts with industrial unionism, in which all workers in the same industry are organized into the sa ...

ists, and initially had little to do with the movement. Despite this, in 1890, 38 new unions affiliated to the council, the largest being the dockers, almost doubling its membership to 59,192. More radical figures were elected to its executive:

Fred Hammill Frederick Parkin Hammill (4 May 1856 - 8 July 1901) was a British trade union activist, and a co-founder of the Independent Labour Party. Career Known generally as "Fred", Hammill was born in Leeds on 4 May 1856, trained as an engineer, and mo ...

, Tom Mann, James Macdonald, W. Pearson and H. R. Taylor. This led to serious disputes over strategy, with Shipton resigning in 1896, to be replaced by Macdonald. One complaint of the new unions was that the council was overly centralised, and in response, local trades councils formed across London, starting with the West Ham Trades and Labour Council in 1891. The new unions persuaded the London Trades Council to form a lecture bureau, and to campaign for an eight hour day, with the first May Day demonstration taking place in Hyde Park in 1890. The trades council supported the formation of the

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kn ...

, and initially supported the Progressive Party, with

John Burns John Elliot Burns (20 October 1858 – 24 January 1943) was an English trade unionist and politician, particularly associated with London politics and Battersea. He was a socialist and then a Liberal Member of Parliament and Minister. He was ...

and F. C. Baum of the upholsterers winning early seats on the council. It led a large campaign in 1892, which saw Ben Cooper, Will Steadman and Henry Robert Taylor elected. However, by 1895 it felt the Progressive Party was insufficiently radical, and in 1897 it began working with the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...

(ILP) and

Social Democratic Federation The Social Democratic Federation (SDF) was established as Britain's first organised socialist political party by H. M. Hyndman, and had its first meeting on 7 June 1881. Those joining the SDF included William Morris, George Lansbury, James C ...

(SDF). The SDF opposed all non-socialist candidates, and so for the 1898 elections, the trades council ended up putting together its own recommended list, a mixture of trade unionists and ILP members. In 1901, the council appointed a political committee, consisting of W. B. Cheesman, Cooper, A. E. Holmes, Charles Jesson, J. Jones (brassworkers), Sam Michaels and Harry Orbell. In 1903, the council affiliated to the national Labour Representation Committee, although it initially continued to support some other candidates; at the

1906 UK general election Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

, it supported nine candidates including Harry Quelch of the SDF and C. Norton of the Liberal Party. This changed in 1914, when it played a leading role in establishing the

London Labour Party London Labour is the devolved, regional part of the Labour Party in Greater London. It is the largest political party in London, currently holding a majority of the executive mayoralties, a majority of local councils, council seats and parli ...

, which affiliated to the Labour Party. The council was divided over support for

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, but agreed in its opposition to conscription. After the war, it became increasingly radical; in 1926, A. M. Wall defeated the leading communist

Wal Hannington Walter "Wal" Hannington (1896–1966) was a founding member of the Communist Party of Great Britain and National Organiser of the National Unemployed Workers' Movement, from its formation in 1921 to its end in 1939, when he became National Organi ...

for the secretaryship by only 102 votes to 82. It led the organisation of workers in London during the

1926 UK general strike The 1926 general strike in the United Kingdom was a general strike that lasted nine days, from 4 to 12 May 1926. It was called by the General Council of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in an unsuccessful attempt to force the British governme ...

. In 1953, the council was derecognised by the TUC, which was seeking to purge Communist Party influence in the Trades Councils nationally. A new

London Trades Council (1952) The London Trades Council (1952) brought together trade unions representing workers in London, in England. History The council was formed on the initiative of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), which believed that the original London Trades Council ...

was founded, alongside a London Federation of Trades Councils.http://www.glatuc.org.uk/history.html

Leadership

Secretaries

:1860:

Tom Jones Tom Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Tom Jones (singer) (born 1940), Welsh singer *Tom Jones (writer) (1928–2023), American librettist and lyricist *''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'', a novel by Henry Fielding published in 1 ...

Julius Jacobs, ''London Trades Council, 1860-1950'', p.155 :1861: George Howell :1862: George Odger :1872: George Shipton :1896: James MacDonald :1913: Fred Knee :1914: John Stokes :1917:

Duncan Carmichael Duncan Carmichael (1870 – 31 August 1926) was a British trade unionist and socialist activist. Living in Battersea, Carmichael joined the Social Democratic Federation (SDF) in 1903, and served on its executive committee from 1909 to 1911. ...

:1926:

Alfred M. Wall Alfred Mervyn Wall (1 November 1889 – 2 October 1957) was a British trade unionist and political activist. Born in East Hamlet, Shropshire on 1 November 1889, Wall moved to London to work as a compositor,Arthur Peacock, ''Yours fraternally'' ...

:1938: Robert Willis :1945: Julius Jacobs

Chairs

:1860: John D. Nieass (Plasterers) :1862: George Odger :1863: Mildred (Carpenters and Joiners) :as of 1867:

Robert Danter Robert Skirrow Danter (1824 or 1825 –1893) was an early British trade unionist. Danter worked as an engine smith. He came to prominence in the Amalgamated Society of Engineers (ASE), where he served as chairman of the executive in the 1860s ...

(Engineers) :as of 1869: John Jeffery (Bricklayers) :as of 1873: T. Warren (West End Boot Closers) :as of 1885: Thomas Abrey (Perseverance Carpenters) :as of 1893-1894: George Courtenay :1896: Ben Cooper (Cigar Makers) :1899: Joe Gregory (Masons) :1904: Harry Quelch (Compositors) :1906: Harry Gosling (Watermen) :1910: Harry Quelch (Compositors) :1913: John Stokes (Glassblowers) :1914: Edward Friend (Bookbinders) :1940: George Lindgren (Railway Clerks) :1942:

Jock Tiffin Arthur Ernest Tiffin OBE (11 February 1896 – 27 December 1955), commonly known as Jock Tiffin or A. E. Tiffin, was the third general secretary of the British Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU). He served for only a few months in 195 ...

(Transport Workers) :1948: Geoffrey Collings (Railway Clerks) :1950: Ted Sheehan (Transport Workers) :1951: Fred Tonge (Transport Staff) :1952: M. Bass (Fire Brigades)

Treasurers

:1860: John Heap (Engineers) :1870s: H. R. King (Bookbinders) :by 1892: W. C. Steadman (Barge Builders) :1910s: Ben Cooper (Cigar Makers) :1917: John Stokes (Glassblowers) :1942: Harry Hynd (Railway Clerks) :1946: Henry Levitt (Insurance Officials) :1951: W. N. Chellingworth (Bookbinders) :1952: David Henry Lewis (Medical Practitioners)

References

External links

Defunct trade unions of the United Kingdom Political organisations based in London Political history of London Trades councils 1860 establishments in the United Kingdom Trade unions established in 1860 Trade unions disestablished in 1953 Socialist organisations in the United Kingdom