It hosted the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in 1876 at the Newcastle Mechanics' Institute, with John C. Laird, trades council president, serving as president of the congress.
[3] The trades council's activities during the 1880s remain obscure, but in 1890 it organised the city's first May Day celebration.
[1][2] During the 1926 UK general strike, the trades council helped co-ordinate workers in the city, as part of the Northumberland and Durham General Council Joint Strike Committee.
[1] In the 1970s, the council set up the UK's first Centre Against Unemployment, this example leading to the establishment of a national network.
In 1986, it moved into a building on Cloth Market, which also became the council's first ever dedicated headquarters.