Under Jack Jones, the elected boss of the union, the mighty monolith played a crucial role in the Trade Union Confederation and the Labour Party. Jones was the chief architect of the social contract between Labour and the unions. His influence was massive on the Bullock Committee on industrial democracy. In Jones’s words: In one day the general secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU) can be involved in meetings with the Prime Minister or other Government Ministers and then be dealing with major industrial disputes or negotiations alongside national and regional colleagues. The general secretary of the TGWU is responsible to the biennial conference of the union, but more realistically to 40 strong General Executive Council. Internally the TGWU is an umbrella which encompasses a number of virtually separate industrial unions. The breakdown of the membership in 1976 indicates the multiplicity of different interests covered by the TGWU.