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 (su ...

, uniting

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

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 Employee ben ...

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 London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a major se ...

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 George Odger (1813–4 March 1877) was a pioneer British trade unionist and radical politician. He is best remembered as the head of the London Trades Council during the period of formation of the Trades Union Congress and as the first President ...

's Operative Bricklayers' Society. 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 Labor (economics), work. A strike usually takes place in response to grievance (labour), employee grievance ...

and a

lockout Lockout may refer to: * Lockout (industry), a type of work stoppage **Dublin Lockout, a major industrial dispute between approximately 20,000 workers and 300 employers 1913 - 1914 * Lockout (sports), lockout in sports leagues **MLB lockout, lock ...

. 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/dictio ...

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 and

Glasgow Trades Council {{Use British English, date=January 2018 Glasgow Trades Council is an association of trade union branches in Glasgow in Scotland. The trades council was founded in 1858 as the Glasgow United Trades Council.Archives Hub,Records of Glasgow District ...

(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 th ...

(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, 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 national trade union center (or national center or central) is a federation or confederation of trade unions in a country. Nearly every country in the world has a national tra ...

(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 ...

". 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 colou ...

to vote, for legislation to improve working conditions, and for a Conciliation and Arbitration Act. 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 servan ...

. However, its support for the

United Kingdom Alliance of Organised Trades The UK Association of Organised Trades was founded in Sheffield in July 1866. It was an important predecessor organization to the Trades Union Congress. The organisation was largely inspired by William Dronfield, who was elected as its secretary ...

, founded just before the

Sheffield Outrages The Sheffield Outrages were a series of explosions and murders by a small group of trade unionist militants carried out in Sheffield, England in the 1860s. Sheffield's early success in steel production had involved long working hours, in condition ...

, 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 George Shipton (1839 – 14 October 1911) was a prominent British trade unionist. Trade union activity Shipton worked as a builder and became involved in trade unionism by joining the Land and Labour League, where he became a strong supporter of ...

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 s ...

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,

Tom Mann Thomas Mann (15 April 1856 – 13 March 1941), was an English trade unionist and is widely recognised as a leading, pioneering figure for the early labour movement in Britain. Largely self-educated, Mann became a successful organiser and a ...

, 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 The eight-hour day movement (also known as the 40-hour week movement or the short-time movement) was a social movement to regulate the length of a working day, preventing excesses and abuses. An eight-hour work day has its origins in the 1 ...

, with the first

May Day May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. Festivities may also be held the night before, known as May Eve. T ...

demonstration taking place in

Hyde Park Hyde Park may refer to: Places England * Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London * Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds * Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield * Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester Austra ...

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 kno ...

, and initially supported the

Progressive Party Progressive Party may refer to: Active parties * Progressive Party, Brazil * Progressive Party (Chile) * Progressive Party of Working People, Cyprus * Dominica Progressive Party * Progressive Party (Iceland) * Progressive Party (Sardinia), Ita ...

, 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 Ben Cooper (September 30, 1933 – February 24, 2020) was an American actor of film and television, who won a Golden Boot Award in 2005 for his work in westerns. Stage Cooper appeared on Broadway in '' Life With Father'' (1939). He debuted in ...

, Will Steadman and

Henry Robert Taylor Henry Robert Taylor was a British politician. Taylor worked as a bricklayer and became active in the Operative Bricklayers' Society. In the early 1890s, he was elected to sit on the London Trades Council, and then in 1892 he was appointed as a ...

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 Con ...

(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 Harry Orbell (4 November 1860 – 27 March 1914) was a British trade unionist. Born in Bethnal Green on 4 November 1860, Henry Joseph (Harry) Orbell trained as a writing desk maker, but was unable to find sufficient work, and so instead fou ...

. 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, it supported nine candidates including

Harry Quelch Henry Quelch (30 January, 1858 – 17 September, 1913) was one of the first Marxists and founders of the social democratic movement in Great Britain. He was a socialist activist, journalist and trade unionist. His brother, Lorenzo "Len" Quelc ...

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 one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, 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 Organis ...

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 governm ...

. 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 w ...

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

Leadership

Secretaries

:1860: Tom JonesJulius Jacobs, ''London Trades Council, 1860-1950'', p.155 :1861: George Howell :1862:

:1872:

:1896: James MacDonald :1913:

Fred Knee Fred Knee (16 June 1868 – 8 December 1914) was a British trade unionist and socialist politician. Born in Frome, Somerset, Knee became a printer and moved to London in search of work. By 1892, Knee was living in Wimbledon and had joined the ...

: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 :1938: Robert Willis :1945: Julius Jacobs

Chairs

:1860: John D. Nieass (Plasterers) :1862:

:1863: Mildred (Carpenters and Joiners) :as of 1867: Robert Danter (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:

(Cigar Makers) :1899: Joe Gregory (Masons) :1904:

(Compositors) :1906:

Harry Gosling Harry Gosling CH (9 June 1861 – 24 October 1930) was a British Labour Party politician and trade union leader. Early life Gosling was born in 1861 at 57 York Street, Lambeth, London, on the southern bank of the River Thames. He was the seco ...

(Watermen) :1910:

(Compositors) :1913: John Stokes (Glassblowers) :1914: Edward Friend (Bookbinders) :1940:

George Lindgren George Samuel Lindgren, Baron Lindgren, JP, DL (11 November 1900 – 8 September 1971) was a British Labour Party politician. Born in Islington, London, at the 1935 general election he was an unsuccessful candidate in the safe Conservative ...

(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 19 ...

(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 Henry R. King (c. 1826 – 18 October 1903) was a British trade union leader. He was a leading advocate for women's trade unionism who served for many years as treasurer of the London Trades Council. King worked as a bookbinder, and joined th ...

(Bookbinders) :by 1892: W. C. Steadman (Barge Builders) :1910s:

(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 David Henry Lewis (1917 – 23 October 2002) was a sailor, adventurer, doctor, and scholar of Polynesian culture. He is best known for his studies on the traditional systems of navigation used by the Pacific Islanders. His studies, published ...

(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