The union was founded in 1878 in London, initially as a very small organisation - by 1887, it had only 64 members.
Initially known as the United Order of General Labourers of London, at the end of World War I, it became the United Order of General Labourers of Great Britain and Ireland.
The meetings lasted several months, but no agreement was reached, and a legacy of distrust between the unions resulted.
This was not successful, as the United Order had little interest in merging with these unions.
This article related to a United Kingdom trade union is a stub.