ABSTRACT
The General Federation of Trade Unions did not believe in obtruding itself. It waited to be invited to intervene in disputes and when it took positive steps to amalgamate unions or settle differences between them, it usually did so when one of the unions was thinking of becoming affiliated to the federation. The author proposes to survey the first ten years of the Gftu’s internal work and policy in general and then to focus on one particular year, 1908-9, for which the Management Committee minutes record in detail a mass of important work. An early dispute involving the federation in great expense was that of the North Wales Quarrymen’s Union, fighting Lord Penrhyn’s attempt to reduce piece rates and squeeze the union out of existence at his quarries in Bethesda. For three years running the quarrymen’s general secretary appeared at the annual general council meeting of Gftu to plead for an extension of support, and each time it was granted.
