National Agricultural Labourers’ Union

The National Agricultural Labourers' Union was a political union in the United Kingdom founded in 1872 by Joseph Arch. Arch, himself from a family of farm labourers, used his skills as a preacher to organize workers protesting low wages and poor living conditions. The union aimed to improve the lives of agricultural labourers through legislative reform. Arch served as its president until its dissolution in 1896. He later transitioned to politics, serving in Parliament and advocating for farm workers, notably playing a role in securing voting rights for them in the Reform Act of 1884-85.1