About GMB London Region

Our union was forged amid the fires of the Beckton gas works. It was created as a grassroots organisation by self-organising groups of workers under the leadership of Will Thorne. As the first general union, it was open to all grades, professions, and trades; to both women and men, without distinction, on the basis of equality and inalienable human rights.

Its purpose, then as now, is to make work, and the general conditions governing life, better for its members through organising and campaigning in the workplace. GMB recognises the inherent dignity, creativity, and value of working people, who represent the productive class within our society, that generates the wealth of the nation but which sees so little of its benefits and rewards.