[2] In its early years, the council was dominated by its president, Samuel Munro, and secretary Alexander Bowman.
By 1897, it was the largest trades council in Ireland, representing 17,500 members in 56 affiliates, and that year, it sponsored six successful candidates for the Belfast Corporation.
[4] The council led opposition to conscription during World War I, organising a meeting of 20,000 people on the issue.
It was particularly prominent during the Belfast strike, 1919, when it described itself as a "Council of Action" and largely controlled the movement of goods in the city.
[6] By the 1940s, members of the Communist Party of Northern Ireland held leading roles on the council.