The Grand National Consolidated Trades Union of 1834 was an early attempt to form a national

union confederation 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 trade union center, and many have more than one. In some regions, such ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

. There had been several attempts to form national

general union A general union is a trade union (called ''labor union'' in American English) which represents workers from all industries and companies, rather than just one organisation or a particular sector, as in a craft union or industrial union. A gene ...

s in the 1820s, culminating with the National Association for the Protection of Labour, established in 1830. However, this had soon failed, and by the early 1830s the most influential labour organization was the

Operative Builders' Union The Operative Builders' Union was an early trade union federation representing construction and maintenance workers in the United Kingdom. The union dated its formation to 1831, although it is not known to have existed with certainty until 1833. ...

.G. N. Clark, ''New Cambridge Modern History: the zenith of European power, 1830-70'', p.346 In 1833,

Robert Owen Robert Owen (; 14 May 1771 – 17 November 1858) was a Welsh people, Welsh textile manufacturer, philanthropist and social reformer, and a founder of utopian socialism and the cooperative movement. He strove to improve factory working conditio ...

returned from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, and declared the need for a

guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometim ...

-based system of co-operative production. He was able to gain the support of the Builders' Union, which called for a Grand National Guild to take over the entire building trade. In February 1834, a conference was held in

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 ...

which founded the Grand National Consolidated Trades Union.Ivor Marsh et al, ''Historical Directory of Trade Unions'', p.458 The new body, unlike other organisations founded by Owen, was open only to

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 and, as a result, initially Owen did not join it. Its foundation coincided with a period of industrial unrest, and strikes broke out in

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popul ...

and

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, w ...

. These were discouraged by the new union, which unsuccessfully tried to persuade workers to adopt co-operative solutions. Six labourers in

Tolpuddle Tolpuddle () is a village in Dorset, England, on the River Piddle from which it takes its name, east of Dorchester, the county town, and west of Poole. The estimated population in 2013 was 420. The village was home to the Tolpuddle Marty ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

, attempted to found a

friendly society A friendly society (sometimes called a benefit society, mutual aid society, benevolent society, fraternal organization or ROSCA) is a mutual association for the purposes of insurance, pensions, savings or cooperative banking. It is a mutua ...

and to seek to affiliate with the Grand National. This was discovered, and in 1834 they were convicted of swearing unlawful oaths, and they were sentenced to

transportation Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land ( rail and road), water, cable, pipelin ...

for seven years. They became known as the

Tolpuddle Martyrs The Tolpuddle Martyrs were six agricultural labourers from the village of Tolpuddle in Dorset, England, who, in 1834, were convicted of swearing a secret oath as members of the Friendly Society of Agricultural Labourers. They were arrested on ...

and there was a large and successful campaign led by William Lovett to reduce their sentence. They were issued with a free pardon in March 1836. The organisation was riven by disagreement over the approach to take, given that many strikes had been lost, the Tolpuddle case had discouraged workers from joining unions, and several new unions had collapsed. The initial reaction was to rename itself the British and Foreign Consolidated Association of Industry, Humanity and Knowledge, focus increasingly on common interests of workers and employers, and attempt to regain prestige by appointing Owen as Grand Master. The organisation began to break up in the summer of 1834Harrison, J.F.C. (1969) ''Robert Owen and the Owenites in Britain and America'', Routledge, , p.212 and by November, it had ceased to function: Owen called a congress in

which reconstitutedCook, Chris (2005) ''The Routledge companion to Britain in the nineteenth century, 1815-1914'', Routledge, 2005, , p.154 it as the Friendly Association of the Unionists of All Classes of All NationsRoyle (1998) p.55-60 with himself as Grand Master, but it was defunct by the end of 1834. Meanwhile, the Builders' Union broke up into smaller trade-based unions. Owen persevered, holding a congress on 1 May 1835 to constitute a new Association of All Classes of All Nations, with himself as Preliminary Father. This was essentially a propaganda organisation, with little popular support, which attempted to gain the ear of influential individuals to propose a more rational society. In 1837, it registered as a

, but was initially overshadowed by Owen's similar

National Community Friendly Society National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

. In 1838, it was able to expand significantly by sending out "social missionaries", setting up fifty branches, most in Cheshire, Lancashire and Yorkshire. In 1839, the National Community and the Association of All Classes merged to form the

Universal Community Society of Rational Religionists Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a t ...

. Despite its name, the Grand National was never able to gain significant support outside LondonW. H. Oliver, "The Consolidated Trades' Union of 1834", ''The Economic History Review'', New Series, Vol. 17, No. 1 (1964), pp. 77-95 and, as a result, Lovett's

London Working Men's Association The London Working Men's Association was an organisation established in London in 1836.

was its most important successor. The next attempt to form a national union confederation was the

National Association of United Trades for the Protection of Labour The National Association of United Trades for the Protection of Labour was an early trade union federation in the United Kingdom, established in 1845. No attempt had been made to co-ordinate the activities of trade unions in various industries a ...

References

* Edward Royle, ''Robert Owen and the Commencement of the Millennium'', Manchester University Press, 1998, {{ISBN, 0-7190-5426-5 1834 establishments in the United Kingdom 1834 disestablishments Defunct trade unions of the United Kingdom National trade union centres of the United Kingdom Utopian socialism Organizations established in 1834 Trade unions established in the 1830s Socialist organisations in the United Kingdom Trade unions disestablished in the 1830s Trade unions based in London