Ben Tillett, the son of a labourer and an Irish mother, was born at 8 John Street, Bristol in 1860. He worked as a shoemaker and also joined the Royal Navy for a while. At the time of the 1881 census he was lodging at 5 Royston Street, Bethnal Green and working as a boot laster

Later he became a tea-cooper at the Monument Tea Warehouse in London Docks and joined the Tea Operatives and General Labourers' Association, becoming its General Secretary in 1887. Two years later he led his union in the great London Dock Strike. The dockers had called for four hours continuous work at a time, a minimum rate of sixpence an hour (known as the Dockers' Tanner), the abolition of piece-work and better working conditions.

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