Initially, the union operated as a federation, with each branch deciding its own policy on welfare benefits for sick or unemployed members.
[1] The union was certainly well established by 17 September 1892, when an illuminated scroll was presented to the President, Mr W D Lyons by the members of the "Society".
[citation needed] Membership grew steadily, from 480 on formation to 681 in 1892, with four new branches formed including one in London, and by 1901 it was able to employ Lewis Leckie as its first full-time general secretary.
From 1918, it ceased to act as a craft union by admitting all workers in the trade, regardless of their perceived level of skill.
[2] The following year, it finally agreed a merger with NAFTA, which formed the National Union of Furniture Trade Operatives.