Initially, the union was only a loose federation with a mere 75 members.
The union became more centralised in 1907, and appointed Couldwell as its first general secretary.
[2] During World War I, the union began to gain recognition from the government for negotiation purposes, in particular working with the Smithfield Control Board.
[1] The union then went into decline, bottoming out at only 3,000 members in 1928, the year that Couldwell died.
That year, it merged into the National Union of Distributive and Allied Workers.