London Trades Council

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The London Trades Council was an early labour organisation, uniting London's trade unionists.

The Trades Council was founded in the aftermath of the London builders' strike of 1859, organised at George Potter's Building Trades Conference and led by George Odger'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 and a lockout. Eventually the unions conceded, but the solidarity built prompted the formation of a city-wide body able to co-ordinate future action.[1]

The London Trades Council was founded in May 1860, and it may well have been the fourth such organisation in the country, after the Sheffield Trades Council and Glasgow Trades Council (both founded in 1858) and the Edinburgh Trades Council (founded in 1859).[2]

As the national Trades Union Congress (TUC) was not founded until 1868, the London group initially provided a focus for many national campaigns, and its early leaders became known as the "Junta". They campaigned for the right of working men to vote, for legislation to improve working conditions, and for a Conciliation and Arbitration Act. They also supported the Glasgow Trades Council's campaign against the Master and Servant Act. However, their 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 conference.[3]

The Council co-operated closely with the International Workingmen's Association, but voted against affiliating to the body.[4]

With the growth of the TUC, the London Trades Council lost its national importance, but remained the most important trades council in the country. Over time, it became increasingly radical, until in the 1950s it was abolished by the TUC and replaced by the London Federation of Trades Councils.[5]