The firm which he founded has now become Marten Walsh Cherer, court reporters, who continue to report Congress to this day. And if there is continuity in the reporting then it is also to be found in the subjects for debate. The Congress debated, among other subjects, hours of labour and technical education.

Today those same topics would appear categorised as working time and learning and skills. The names might have been changed but the subjects live on. In the early days the principal purpose of Congress was to influence the political process and between Congresses a 'Parliamentary Committee' looked after the unions' interests.

In the early s the Parliamentary Committee became the General Council. Then, as now, its composition was intended to reflect the diversity of occupations, interests and variety of unions represented within the Congress. Then as now they presented Congress, for their approval, a report of their work during the previous Congress year and it is on the basis of those reports and these scrupulously recorded debates that Britain's trade unions built their reputation as a serious social and political force whose voice was heard from the factory floor to the Cabinet Room.

Advanced Search. Attached to this Committee, in an advisory capacity, is a Medical Advisor and Consultant, whose services are most valuable in connection with saving workmen from the scourge of industrial diseases and poisons. There is also an Economic Committee, which advises the Council on questions of national economic policy as they affect the workers. An International Committee has charge of the relations between the British trade unions and the I. The National Women's Advisory Committee deals especially with industrial problems and organisation affecting women workers.

In dealing with all the day-to-day problems which arise, the General Council follows the general lines of a constructive Charter which the Congress has drawn up. This Charter aims at the transformation of existing institutions in such a way that ultimately there will exist in Great Britain complete democratic control of industry, with the elimination of profit-making, and a more just sharing-out of the wealth of the nation.

In the Trades Union Congress decided to organise the independent representation in Parliament of the British working class. A Labour Representation Committee was appointed for the purpose, and in a compact party of 29 Labour Members entered the House of Commons. Space does not allow for a detailed account of the work or progress of the Labour Party. It must suffice to say that, becoming officially recognised as the Opposition Party in Parliament, a Labour Government was formed in ; and again in another Labour Government with a Labour Prime Minister took charge of the interests of the Nation.

At the last General Election, held in November, , Labour Members were returned, representing a total electorate of 8,, This Council meets every month and special meetings are summoned in cases of emergency. The Council co-ordinates trade union with Parliamentary action and its decisions are recognised as the authoritative and united voice of the British Trade Union and Labour Movement. In regularly surveying and examining economic and political conditions, this joint body has developed important functions.

It organises an intelligence service, giving to its joint membership, by means of the "Daily Herald" and other publications, the right perspective of facts, and indicating the policy to pursue; it works out detailed plans for reforms; it organises opposition to anti-social projects; it keeps in close touch with the two central Internationals of the Trade Unions and the Socialist Parties [the International Federational of Trade Unions and the Labour and Socialist International], promoting in this way the tendencies that exist favouring organisation of the world's economic life, and concerting action for maintaining the principle of collective security based on the Covenant and the League of Nations.

He was confirmed as General Secretary in and stayed in office until his retirement from the post in Citrine played an active part in international trade unionism, serving as President of the International Federation of Trade Unions between Harold Vincent Tewson was born in Bradford in His first job on leaving school was in the central office of the Amalgamated Society of Dyers and, with the exception of 3 years army service during the First World War, Tewson worked there continuously until his appointment as TUC Organisation Secretary in This department dealt with a range of educational issues relevant to trade unionists, including trade union scholarships to Ruskin College, Oxford, and international and national summer schools.

It also maintained contact with organisations such as the Workers' Educational Association and the National Council of Labour Colleges. The Finance Department managed the regular income and expenditure of the Trades Union Congress, and took financial control of special appeals launched by the TUC. The International Department maintained contact with trade unions of other countries, various international institutions including the International Labour Organisation, the International Federation of Trade Unions, and the International Trade Secretariats , and sections of the British government.

This department was concerned with the development of trade union membership and structure, the conduct of negotiations for the amalgamation of unions, and similar questions. This department maintained relations with newspapers, newspaper correspondents, and the labour and trade union journals. It was also responsible for official TUC publications, General Council press communiques, and for certain joint publicity services maintained in connection with the Labour Party.

Tracey joined the staff of the Labour Party in , and created the Party's press and publicity department.

The main function of this department was to undertake research and supply information for the use of the other TUC departments and General Council, affiliated trade unions, and, in some cases, outside bodies.

George Woodcock was born at Bamber Bridge, Lancashire, in By the age of 14 he was working full-time in a local cotton mill. This department dealt with a range of social welfare issues, including health care and medicine, unemployment, pensions, workmen's compensation, workplace legislation and accident prevention. It undertook research, provided information, and maintained contact with other relevant bodies. By , this figure as represented at the Trades Union Congress that year had risen to over a million.

Thereafter there was a sharp decline in membership, reflecting the strong associations of this type of trade unionism with Britain's economic fortunes. In , Joseph Arch's attempt to organise agricultural workers met with initial success, but this too was short lived. Women were excluded from most of these 'craft' unions.

The only trade in which they still remained organised in any numbers was that of weaving. Any attempts to organise women in this period came from outside the labour movement, often through the work of philanthropic women. The London Trades Council, formed in as a result of a building workers' dispute, brought together many of the London based leaders of trade unions. However, it was not until that the Trades Union Congress was founded.

Its first congress was convened by the Manchester and Salford Trades Council. Trade unions were quick to exploit the new opportunities presented by the extension of the franchise in to better paid urban male workers by taking on some of the functions of a parliamentary pressure group. Through the medium of poetry, prose, fiction, biography, autobiography and local history, they document the changing experience of working class people over the course of the second half of the twentieth century, and much like oral history, they contain testimony about cultural history and working lives.

The Gertrude Tuckwell Papers Labour Research Department Archive Founded in to supply trade unions and other groups with information to use in negotiations, political debates and public meetings.

The Archive provides a detailed record of trade union and political struggles in the 20th century. Introduction to the Archive part 1 - Institutional Papers part 2 - Pamphlet Collection London Bookbinders and Paperworkers 88 volumes of London branch minutes and papers from to A wonderful illustration of the core of the British print industry through its golden age.

This was a period when former commonwealth countries in Africa, Asia and the Americas were gaining independence and the TUC worked with their developing trade union movements. The Marjorie Nicholson Collection Mary Macarthur Holiday Trust Archive The papers cover the work of the Trust which was established in to commemorate Mary Macarthur, leading trade unionists and women's rights campaigner.

The trust aimed to provide a holiday home for disadvantaged working women. Mary Macarthur Holiday Trust Archive Russian Collections These papers were collected by the British trade union and labour delegations to Russia in and and the women's trade union delegation of , and include diaries, letters, photographs and souvenir gifts from the Bolshevik hosts keen to impress their visitors.

This is a highly visual collection some of which has been digitised and can be viewed on the Union Makes Us Strong website. Russian Collections SOGAT London Women's Branch Records A small collection of papers, minute books and publications covering the print industry and the role of women trade unionists; including equal pay disputes. It was closely linked to the universities extra-mural departments, university tutorial classes and the trade union movement.

The WEA were closely involved in campaigns for better state education and in particular, were involved in the campaign which preceded the Education Act. The WEA is now a national voluntary organisation existing primarily to provide adults with access to organised learning. It is a registered charity and is non-party in politics and non-sectarian in religion. The WEA has over local branches and 28 local organisations including 23 national trade unions who are affiliated at the national level.

Special format collections. DVDs received since are included in the online catalogue microforms General Strike newspapers.