Unions NSW

Sydney Trades Hall is owned by Unions NSW, the peak body representing over 60 unions covering all fields of work and over 600,000 union members.

Unions NSW began life in 1871 as the Sydney Labor Council, later became the Sydney branch of the Australian Labour Federation. The name Labor Council of NSW was adopted in 1908 and Unions NSW became the official title in 2005. It had been a tenant of Trades Hall from the first opening in 1895 (when Chris Watson, the first national leader of a labour party anywhere in the world the become Prime Minister, was President) until 1970 when the Labor Council opened its own building right next door to the Trades Hall. Unions NSW has now returned to the Trades Hall.