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36-652: The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (often abbreviated to just Congress or ICTU ), formed in 1959 by the merger of the Irish Trades Union Congress (founded in 1894) and the Congress of Irish Unions (founded in 1945), is a national trade union centre , the umbrella organisation to which trade unions in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland affiliate. There are currently 55 trade unions with membership of Congress, representing about 600,000 members in

72-713: A more positive note Begg asserted that the ending of social partnership arrangements "liberates us to advocate and campaign for our own policies". A "mass rally", organised by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Amnesty International , and the Rainbow Project in support of same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland took place on 13 June 2015 in Belfast , with a 20,000 person turnout. Irish Trades Union Congress Until 1894, representatives of Irish trade unions attended

108-595: A motion "calling for a special conference to establish a voice for working people within parliament. Within the year the conference had been held and the Labour Representation Committee established (the forerunner of the Labour Party)." The major TUC affiliated unions still make up the great bulk of the British Labour Party affiliated membership, but there is no formal/organisational link between

144-630: A new system. The Parliamentary Committee became the General Council, representing thirty groups of workers. The General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress became chief permanent officer of the TUC, and a major figure in the British trade union movement. The system was successfully implemented by Fred Bramley and Walter Citrine . By 1927 the TUC had the making of a trade union bureaucracy similar to

180-576: A political fund, to support favoured candidates, nothing came of this, although the ITUC did have strong links with Joseph Nannetti , who liaised on its behalf with the Irish Parliamentary Party . In 1912, the ITUC established a political arm, becoming known as the Irish Labour Party and Trade Union Congress (or Irish Trade Union Congress and Labour Party ). The political wing evolved into

216-458: A series of seven corporatist agreements with the government and the main manufacturing/services employer body IBEC and the construction employers' lobby, CIF (Construction Industry Federation). It was a classic European-style alliance of government, labour and capital built on six decades of voluntary employment relations regulated by state institutions such as the Labour Court. For many years

252-643: A total of about 5.5 million members. Paul Nowak is the TUC's current General Secretary, serving from January 2023. The TUC's decision-making body is the Annual Congress, which takes place in September. Between congresses decisions are made by the General Council , which meets every two months. An Executive Committee is elected by the Council from its members. Affiliated unions can send delegates to Congress with

288-568: A two-year period and is normally succeeded by one of two vice-presidents. Congress is the sole Irish affiliate of the ETUC , the representative body for trade unions at European level and of the International Trade Union Confederation ITUC Congress enjoyed unprecedented political and economic influence over the period from 1987 to 2009 under the umbrella of Ireland's social partnership arrangements. This involved

324-478: Is now Princess Street and was then David Street; the building is at no. 103). The fact that the TUC was formed by Northern Trades Councils was not coincidental. One of the issues which prompted this initiative was the perception that the London Trades Council (formed in 1860 and including, because of its location, many of the most prominent union leaders of the day) was taking a dominant role in speaking for

360-718: Is the Biennial Delegate Conference, to which affiliated unions send delegates. On a day-to-day basis Congress is run by an Executive Committee and a staffed secretariat headed up by the general secretary, Owen Reidy who succeeded Patricia King in the position in 2022. Justin McCamphill of NASUWT became President of Congress at the biennial conference in Kilkenny in July 2023 succeeding Kevin Callinan of Fórsa . The president serves for

396-778: The Labour Party . Despite the Partition of Ireland , the ITUC continued to organise throughout the island, but tensions arose between the unions based in Britain and with members in both Britain and Ireland, and the Irish-based unions. In 1936, the organisation formed a commission to examine the issue. William O'Brien put in a proposal to form ten industrial groupings with no overlaps to negotiate on behalf of workers - in effect, this would have passed existing union activities to ten industrial unions . This and three other proposals were discussed at

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432-600: The Modern Records Centre at the University of Warwick Library. The archive contains files from about 1920 up to 2000 consisting of correspondence, internal and external documents, minutes, reports, printed material and press statements. The TUC campaigns on a wide range of issues relating to the experience of people at work. The TUC succeeded in forcing Sports Direct to undergo an independent review into their treatment of workers in September 2016. In October 2016,

468-479: The Republic of Ireland . Trade union members represent 35.1% of the Republic's workforce. This is a significant decline since the 55.3% recorded in 1980 and the 38.5% reported in 2003. In the Republic, roughly 50% of union members are in the public sector. The ICTU represents trade unions in negotiations with employers and the government with regard to pay and working conditions The supreme policy-making body of Congress

504-779: The "General Staff of the Labour Movement" it incorporated the Trades Councils who had given birth to it, eventually becoming the body which authorised these local arms of the TUC to speak on behalf of the wider Trade Union Movement at local and County level. Also, as the TUC became increasingly bureaucratised, the Trades Councils (often led by militant and communist-influenced lay activists) found themselves being subject to political restrictions and purges (particularly during various anti-communist witch-hunts) and to having their role downplayed and marginalised. In some areas (especially in London and

540-630: The 1939 conference, but O'Brien and his supporters walked out and formed the Advisory Council of Irish Unions . This comprised eighteen unions based in Ireland, and accounted for about half the ITUC membership. The Advisory Council cut ties with the ITUC in 1945 and formed the Congress of Irish Unions . After long negotiations, the two organisations reunited in 1959 to form the Irish Congress of Trade Unions . The following unions were affiliated to

576-782: The British Trades Union Congress (TUC). However, many felt that they had little impact on the British body, and the Dublin Trades Council had twice tried and failed to form an Irish federation of trade unions. Its third attempt, the Irish Trades Union Congress, met for the first time in April 1894. Although some Irish delegates continued to attend the British TUC, their decision to bar representatives of trades councils from 1895 increased dissatisfaction, and

612-498: The ITUC as of 1925: By 1954, the following unions held membership: Trades Union Congress Social democracy Socialism Communism Northern Ireland Scotland Wales Other The Trades Union Congress ( TUC ) is a national trade union centre , a federation of trade unions that collectively represent most unionised workers in England and Wales . There are 48 affiliated unions with

648-488: The ITUC soon became the leading Irish union federation. Despite this, the new federation adopted the form of the British TUC, differentiating itself primarily by offering lower subscription rates and lower costs for delegates to attend its annual congress. In 1900, the British TUC asked the ITUC to amalgamate with it, but this request was rejected. In its early years, the ITUC was dominated by small craft unions . The unions of carpenters were particularly important, while

684-751: The South East) the Regional Councils of the TUC (dominated by paid officials of the unions) effectively took over the role of the County Associations of Trades Councils and these paid officials replaced elected lay-members as the spokespersons for the Trade Union Movement at County and Regional level. By the end of the 20th century local Trades Councils and County Associations of Trades Councils had become so ineffective and weak that many had simply faded into effective dissolution. The 1899 Congress saw

720-416: The TUC and the party. The Scottish Trades Union Congress , which was formed in 1897, is a separate and autonomous organisation. The Parliamentary Committee grew slowly, confining itself to legal matters, and ignored industrial disputes. In 1916 Harry Gosling proposed that organised labour needed an administrative machine. Following the railway strike of 1919, Ernest Bevin and G. D. H. Cole proposed

756-580: The TUC's campaign against the Trade Union Act 2016 won 'Best Public Affairs Campaign' at the PR Week Awards. In August 2022, the TUC declared its support for a £15 an hour minimum wage, which it says should be implemented "as soon as possible". The TUC was founded in the 1860s. The United Kingdom Alliance of Organised Trades , founded in Sheffield , Yorkshire, in 1866, was the immediate forerunner of

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792-591: The TUC, although efforts to expand local unions into regional or national organisations date back at least forty years earlier; in 1822, John Gast formed a "Committee of the Useful Classes", sometimes described as an early national trades council. The first TUC meeting was held in 1868 when the Manchester and Salford Trades Council convened the founding meeting in the Manchester Mechanics' Institute (on what

828-596: The Tolpuddle Martyrs Museum and annual Tolpuddle Martyrs' Festival and Rally commemorating the Tolpuddle Martyrs and their impact on trade unionism. The TUC Library preserves documents related to labour history in Britain and other countries, especially Europe and the Commonwealth . It was established in 1922 and now focuses on expanding the online and digital collections. The TUC archives are held at

864-489: The Trade Union Movement as a whole. The second TUC meeting took place in 1869 at the Oddfellows Hall, Temple Street, Birmingham where delegates discussed the eight-hour working day, election of working people to Parliament and the issue of free education. Arising out of the 1897 Congress, a decision was taken to form a more centralised trade union structure that would enable a more militant approach to be taken to fighting

900-489: The anti-union Ryanair company. Ireland's period of centralised 'social pacts' ended in late 2009 when the government imposed pay cuts of between 5% and 8% on public service employees. The joint-stewardship of the state's FÁS training and employment authority by Congress and IBEC and accompanied waste of public and EU funds and excessive spending on directors 'junkets' further weakened the public standing of Congress and its 'social partnership' structures. In an assessment of

936-632: The civil service. During the First World War, the Trades Union Congress generally supported the aims of the British Empire. However, in 1915, national conference voted against the introduction of military conscription. The TUC played a major role in the General Strike of 1926 , and became increasingly affiliated with the Labour Party in the 1930s, securing seven of the thirteen available seats on

972-610: The employer and even achieving the socialist transformation of society. The result was the General Federation of Trade Unions which was formed in 1899. For some years it was unclear which body (the GFTU or the TUC) would emerge as the national trade union centre for the UK and for a while both were recognised as such by different fraternal organisations in other countries. However, it was soon agreed among

1008-585: The local trade union activists. The TUC leadership subsequently tried to distort the result of the survey to justify its own opposition toward unauthorised marches. In 1945, the World Trade Union Conference took place in February at County Hall, London , before the first World Trade Union Congress was convened in Paris, October of the same year. In 1958, the TUC's current headquarters, Congress House ,

1044-410: The major unions that the TUC should take the leading role and that this would be the central body of the organised Labour Movement in the UK. The GFTU continued in existence and remains to this day as a federation of (smaller, often craft-based) trade unions providing common services and facilities to its members (especially education and training services). As the TUC expanded and formalised its role as

1080-437: The newly created National Council of Labour in 1934. The TUC pressured the Labour Party into rejecting Ramsay MacDonald 's National Government formed to implement spending cuts, and no major trade unions joined his breakaway National Labour Organisation . A TUC survey of local trades councils who were approached by unemployed marchers for support in 1936 shows widespread support for unemployed workers' protest marches among

1116-625: The number of delegates they can send proportionate to their size. Each year Congress elects a President of the Trades Union Congress , who carries out the office for the remainder of the year and then presides over the following year's conference. The TUC is not affiliated with the Labour Party . At election time the TUC cannot endorse a particular party by name. However it can point to policies that it believes would be positive for workers' rights , or to social cohesion and community welfare. It can also politically campaign against policies that it believes would be injurious to workers. The TUC also runs

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1152-468: The post-partnership situation, Congress general secretary David Begg prepared a strategic review paper in which he identified the increasing weakness of the Congress and individual trade unions being due to "recession and change in the balance of power with capital" as well as job cuts, poor organisation, especially in high-technology companies, and a growing rift between public and private sector employees. On

1188-594: The printers and tailors also proved significant. Several British-based unions with Irish members also affiliated. While initially aiming to include the "land and labour" movement, this was excluded from 1898 onwards, as its organisations were not considered to be recognised trade unions or trades councils. Early issues discussed as the congress included the campaigns for an eight-hour day , for manhood suffrage , and for improvements to pay and conditions. Calls for nationalisation were initially defeated, but were passed in 1898. While delegates votes in favour of establishing

1224-522: The public as a competition, which David Du R Aberdeen won. From 1979 to the end of the 20th century, the TUC's membership declined from about 12 million to about 6.6 million. This took place during and after the Premiership of Margaret Thatcher , among other contributing factors. Frances O'Grady became elected to be the leader of the TUC in 2012. The TUC endorsed a remain vote at the 2016 European Union membership referendum , and O'Grady participated in

1260-733: The union leaders agreed to dampen pay rises in return for regular reductions in income tax rates. They also negotiated a new system of pay determination for public service employees under the rubric of "benchmarking" using external assessment of pay scales for assorted grades. The era of Christian democratic style corporatism also saw a dramatic fall in trade union density from 62% in 1980 to 31% in 2007 and consolidation through mergers of many affiliated trade unions. Efforts to launch recruitment and organising initiatives failed to secure adequate support from affiliated unions while attempts to secure indirect forms of union recognition through legislation collapsed after successful legal challenges and appeals by

1296-519: Was built. It was proposed at the 1944 Congress in Blackpool as a tribute to the lives of trade unionists that were lost in World War II . The idea was quickly expanded on to include conference and meeting facilities now known as Congress Centre. The building was also seen as an opportunity to raise interest in arts and culture, architecture in particular and the chance to design the building was left open to

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