The General Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU) is a national trade union centre in the United Kingdom. It has 35 affiliates with a membership of just over 214,000 and describes itself as the "federation for specialist unions". History In the 1890s, the development of socialist organisations and socialist thinking also found expression in the British trade union movement. Many of the new unions formed during that period were committed to the socialist transformation of society and were critical of the conservatism of the craft unions. The debate revolved around concept of building "one-big-union" which would have the resources to embark on a militant course of action and even change society. This thinking gained strength after the 1897 Engineering Employers Federation lockout which resulted in a defeat for engineering workers. The view that it was necessary to develop a strong, centralised trade union organisation by forming a federation, which had been rejected only two years earlier, was now endorsed at the Trades Union Congress of September 1897. This resulted in the establishment of the General Federation of Trade Unions at a special Congress of the TUC in 1899, the principal objective of which was to set up a national organisation with a strike fund which could be drawn upon by affiliated trade unions. GFTU participated in the foundation of the International Federation of Trade Unions at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam in July 1919. The federation has seen a large turnover of members, due largely to mergers in the movement. In 1979, its members were: Amalgamated Association of Beamers, Twisters and Drawers Amalgamated Felt Hat Trimers', Woolformers' and Allied Workers' Union Amalgamated Society of Journeymen Felt Hatters and Allied Workers Amalgamated Textile Workers' Union Amalgamated Union of Asphalt Workers Associated Metalworkers' Union Card Setting Machine Tenters' Society Ceramic and Allied Trades Union Cloth Pressers' Society Furniture, Timber and Allied Trades Union General Union of Associations of Loom Overlookers Hinckley Dyers' and Auxiliary Association Huddersfield Healders and Twisters Trade and Friendly Society Jewel Case and Jewellery Display Makers' Union Lancashire Amalgamated Tape Sizers' Association Lancashire Box, Packing Case and General Woodworkers' Society National Association of Licensed House Managers National Society of Brushmakers and General Workers National Society of Metal Mechanics National Union of Hosiery and Knitwear Workers National Union of Lock and Metal Workers National Union of Tailors and Garment Workers Nelson and District Association of Preparatory Workers Northern Carpet Trade Union Nottingham and