General Federation of Trade Unions (UK)/Summary
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The General Federation of Trade Unions is a national trade union centre in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1899 in response to the demand for a more centralised trade union structure that would enable a more militant approach to be taken to fighting the employer and even achieving the socialist transformation of society.
It was the product of the New Unionism of the 1890's which rejected the conservatism of the craft unions and was seen by the Trades Union Congress as a way of achieving a practical accommodation with the leaders of those affiliated unions who saw the trade union movement as an instrument for sweeping away capitalism by direct action.
The GFTU still operates a central Dispute Fund but has evolved into an organisation which provides centralised services, such as education and research, to its affiliates who are often smaller specialist unions or specialist sections of larger unions.
