They typically worked to determine wage rates, terms and conditions in a specific industry.
During World War I, in 1917, John Henry Whitley was appointed to chair a committee, which soon produced a Report on the Relations of Employers and Employees in the wake of the establishment of the Shop Stewards Movement and the widespread protest action against dilution.
[1] He proposed a system of regular formal consultative meetings between workers and employers, known to this day as "Whitley councils".
These would be empowered to cover any issue related to pay and conditions of service, and to take matters through to arbitration if necessary.
However, the councils failed to gain ground in coal, cotton, engineering and other heavy industries, but succeeded only in the sphere of government employment[4] where they remain a major feature of public sector industrial relations to this day.
In addition there was a Nurses and Midwives Whitley Council for Great Britain which negotiated conditions of service.