General Council of the Trades Union Congress

Unions with more members receive an automatic allocation of seats, in proportion to their membership.

[1] Some members of the council are further elected to serve on the smaller Executive Committee of the TUC.

This had seventeen members, but by the collapse of the Triple Alliance, it was considered ineffective and to have insufficient powers in industrial matters.

It received additional powers to intervene in the case of major industrial disputes, and to resolve inter-union conflicts.

[3] However, these powers were not always exercised; many members of the council in the early years were elected on grounds of seniority, rather than recent accomplishments.

[6] Throughout this period, Group 2 comprised three railway unions: the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF), National Union of Railwaymen (NUR) and Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA).

The Iron and Steel Trades Confederation (ISTC) was the largest union in the group, and consistently held one of its seats.

The National Amalgamated Furnishing Trades Association (NAFTA) won a seat in the early years, and pursued an independent course throughout this period.

The cotton industry had a large number of small trade unions, and in 1934, the group had 46 members.

Almost all of its members were involved with printing, and in the early years, the seat was contested by four larger unions: the London Society of Compositors (LSC), National Society of Operative Printers and Assistants (NATSOPA), National Union of Printing, Bookbinding and Paper Workers (NUPBPW), and Typographical Association (TA).

[6] Over the years, these undertook a series of mergers, forming new unions, including the Society of Graphical and Allied Trades (SOGAT).

[14] The ban was lifted after World War II, but a new group was added for civil servants.

Despite this, the public employees group steadily grew in size, the affiliation of the National and Local Government Officers' Association and the National Union of Teachers being particularly important, while the Confederation of Health Service Employees (COHSE) absorbed the MHIWU.

In exchange, the TUC agreed to create a two-member group, to ensure that women workers had representation on the council.

After many years of discussion, a comprehensive restructure of the council was agreed in 1982, and took place following the annual TUC meeting in September 1983.