Attempts at General Union

This volume traces the attempts made after the Napoleonic Wars to link up all the numerous local and sectional Trade Societies into a single comprehensive ‘General Trades Union’ – attempts which culminated in the short-lived Grand National Consolidated Trades Union formed under Robert Owen’s influence in 1833. Based on materials not previously used by historians, this book throws new light on the development of Trade Unionism, particularly in the North of England, during these critical years.

Preface 1. Introduction 2. The Beginnings – The Philanthropic Society and the Philanthropic Hercules 3. The Spinners’ Union and the Union of Trades 4. The National Association for the Protection of Labour 5. The Movement in Yorkshire – Factory Slavery 6. The Yorkshire Trades’ Union 7. Secrecy and ‘Unlawful Oaths’ 8. The Short Time Movement and the Factory Act of 1833 9. The Struggle in Yorkshire, 1833 10. The Grand Moral Union of the Productive Classes 11. The End of the National Association for the Protection of Labour 12. The Builders’ Union 13. The Society for National Regeneration 14. The Derby Turn-Out 15. The Grand National Consolidated Trades Union 16. The Tolpuddle Martyrs and the Abolition of the Oath 17. The Struggle in the North 18. The Fall of the Grand National Trades Union – The Aftermath. Appendices.

G. Cole