WELSH trade unions marked the 50th anniversary of the Wales Trades Union Congress today.

A special meeting of the Wales TUC general council was joined by founding member George Wright, who was the driving force behind establishing the organisation.

The meeting was also joined by deputy minister for social partnership, Hannah Blythyn.

Mr Wright was brought in from the TGWU in the West Midlands to co-ordinate union members in Wales and face down opposition to a Wales-only body from TUC headquarters in London.

“[Then] prime minister Jim Callaghan asked me to lead the campaign for devolution in the late 1970s and we lost by 3-1, but we never stopped until we achieved it.

“The creation of the Wales TUC was, I believe, the first step towards devolution for Wales.”

“The Wales TUC called a strike in Wales against Margaret Thatcher’s closure of the steel industry and we brought out 200,000 workers on strike,” Mr Wright told the general council.

Wales TUC general secretary Shavanah Taj said: “Without George, the Wales TUC as it is today would simply not exist. We owe him an enormous debt of gratitude.

“We only have to look around us to see the relevance and the necessity of the WTUC.

“We have a UK government trying to curtail workers’ rights through its Minimum Service Levels Bill.

“And yet here in Wales this week we’ll see the passing of the Social Partnership Bill that will empower workers and put them at the heart of decision-making in Wales.”

The Wales TUC was formed in 1973 and currently represents 48 trade unions and 400,000 workers in Wales across all sectors of the economy.