The union was founded in London in 1889, and began recruiting members nationally from 1892.
It was an early member of the Labour Representation Committee, and also joined the Trades Union Congress.
The meetings lasted several months, but no agreement was reached, and a legacy of distrust between the unions resulted.
[1] In 1920, the United Builders' Labourers applied to join the National Federation of Building Trade Operatives.
This survived until 1952, when it merged into the Amalgamated Union of Building Trade Workers.