Robert Owen organizes the Grand National Consolidated…
February 1834 CE
There had been several attempts to form national general unions in the 1820s, culminating with the National Association for the Protection of Labour, established in 1830.
However, this had soon failed, and by the early 1830s the most influential labor organization was the Operative Builders' Union.
In 1833, Robert Owen had returned from the United States, and declared the need for a guild-based system of co-operative production.
He was able to gain the support of the Builders' Union, which called for a Grand National Guild to take over the entire building trade.
In February 1834, a conference is held in London that founds the Grand National Consolidated Trades Union.
The new body, unlike other organizations founded by Owen, is open only to trade unionists and, as a result, initially Owen does not join it.
Its foundation coincides with a period of industrial unrest, and strikes will break out in Derby, Leeds and Oldham.
These are discouraged by the new union, which will unsuccessfully try to persuade workers to adopt co-operative solutions.
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