The Dockers union was founded in London in July 1887 as the Tea Operatives & General Labourers' Association
The first meeting held at the Royal Oak, Hackney Road
The union was central to the famous London dock strike of 1889
the union was formed to organise opposition to a cut in wages for workers involved in unloading and processing tea at the East & West India Dock Company's Cutler Street warehouse.
Harry Orbell - President
Dock, Wharf, Riverside & General Workers' Union (Later TGWU)
Henry "Harry" Orbell (4 November 1860 – 27 March 1914) was a the first London dockers leader
Tom McCarthy Born in Limehouse to parents from Ireland,circa 1862
Early dockers leaders as Secretary of the Stevedore's Union
Amalgamated Stevedores' Labour Protection League
He was a founder of the ILP
buried in "sacred" Bow Cemetery September 1899
