The UK Association of Organised Trades was founded in Sheffield in July 1866. It was an important predecessor organization to the Trades Union Congress. [1] [2]
The organisation was largely inspired by William Dronfield, who was elected as its secretary. It initially represented over 200,000 trade unionists, organised through trades councils or national unions. Among the attendees at the first conference were the London Working Men's Association, and George Odger of the London Trades Council.
The organisation agreed to secure mutual co-operation during lock-outs, to oppose the Master and Servant Act, and to work for the establishment of Courts of Conciliation and Arbitration. Its headquarters were established in Sheffield, and its executive was elected by the Sheffield Association of Organised Trades. [3]
A second conference was held in Manchester in January 1867, and a third in Preston in September of that year, although by this point, it was in sharp decline.
The prospects for the organisation were essentially finished by the Sheffield Outrages. Although it condemned them, it soon emerged that William Broadhead, Treasurer of the Association, was their ringleader.
The organisation disbanded in 1871.
The Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) is the national trade union centre in Scotland. With 40 affiliated unions as of 2020, the STUC represents over 540,000 trade unionists.
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) is a trade union for coal miners in Great Britain, formed in 1945 from the Miners' Federation of Great Britain (MFGB). The NUM took part in three national miners' strikes, in 1972, 1974 and 1984–85. After the 1984–85 strike, and the subsequent closure of most of Britain's coal mines, it became a much smaller union. It had around 170,000 members when Arthur Scargill became leader in 1981, a figure which had fallen in 2015 to an active membership of around 100.
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 state level. They may also be based on a particular industry rather than geographical area, as for example, in the Maritime Council of Australia which co-ordinated the waterfront and maritime unions involved in the 1890 Australian Maritime Dispute.
Community is a British trade union which formed in 2004. The union represents workers in a diverse range of sectors, including iron and steel, justice and custodial, domestic appliance manufacturing, textiles and footwear, road transport, betting, the third sector as well as the self-employed.
New Model Trade Unions (NMTU) were a variety of Trade Unions prominent in the 1850s and 1860s in the UK. The term was coined by Sidney and Beatrice Webb in their History of Trade Unionism (1894), although later historians have questioned how far New Model Trade Unions represented a 'new wave' of unionism, as portrayed by Webbs.
Samuel Caldwell Nicholson was a British trade unionist.
William Dronfield was a British trade unionist.
James MacDonald was a British trade unionist.
The Sheffield Trades and Labour Council, usually known as the Sheffield Trades Council, is a labour organisation uniting trade unionists in Sheffield.
William Broadhead was a British trade unionist and saw grinder.
The National Association of United Trades for the Protection of Labour was an early trade union federation in the United Kingdom, established in 1845.
The National Union of General Workers (NUGW) was an early general union in the United Kingdom, the most important general union of its era.
The Amalgamated Society of Boilermakers, Shipwrights, Blacksmiths and Structural Workers (ASB) was a trade union in the United Kingdom. Many of its members worked in shipbuilding, in which industry it was the leading trade union, while over time it also developed strength in engineering and construction.
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. The current General Secretary is Frances O'Grady.
The London Trades Council (1860–1953) was an early labour organisation, uniting London's trade unionists. Its modern successor organisation is the Greater London Association of Trades (Union) Councils
The Manchester Trades Union Council brings together trade union branches in Manchester in England.
The Parliamentary Committee of the Trades Union Congress was the leading body of the British trade union movement from 1871 until 1921.
The Printing and Kindred Trades Federation (P&KTF) was a trade union federation in the United Kingdom.
The Notts Trades Council, formally known as the Nottinghamshire Nottingham and Mansfield Trades Council, brings together trade unionists in Nottinghamshire, in England.
Leeds Trades Council is an organisation bringing together trade unionists in Leeds, in northern England.
