When this book was originally published in 1982 the General Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU) was an organisation which catered for some 40 unions with an aggregate membership of 490,000. The GFTU in the late 20th Century was a very different organisation from what its founders in 1899 hope it might become, but in both its early and later form, it holds a significant place in the history of British trade unionism. Its history, outlined in this book sheds much light on the history of labour relations and working-class organisation in this country as a whole. The book provides a framework within which the GFTU’s contribution to the history of British labour in the 20th Century may be understood.
1. The Beginnings of the General Federation of Trade Unions, 1890-1900 2. Growth: Internal Affairs, 1900-10 3. The General Federation in a Wider World, 1900-10 4. A Turbulent Decade. The Challenges of Syndicalism and War, 1910-20 5. International Affairs and the Exclusion of the General Federation from British Representation, 1913-22 6. Between the Wars 7. From the 1940s to the 1970s.
Biography
Alice Prochaska was a Pro Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford.
Review of the original edition of History of the General Federation of Trade Unions:
‘This book fills a gap in British labour history.’ Garth Pilkington, Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol 26, Issue 2.
