ABSTRACT
Trades councils appear at first sight to resemble some of the earlier attempts at federation, since they are joint organizations of the trade unions in one locality, irrespective of the nature of their industries. By constitution trades councils are representative bodies consisting of delegates from the various affiliated trade societies. Throughout the history of trade unionism a belief has existed that the advantages of amalgamation might be further extended by federating together unions representing different industries; and the efforts which have been made in this direction have in many cases met with a considerable amount of success. According to the Board of Trade Report on Trade Unions for 1897, ‘ a “ federation ” is taken to mean an association either of trade societies connected with the same industry, or of societies belonging to several industries with varying degrees of relationship.
