The York Guild of Building was established in 1954 under the guidance of Sir Peter Shepherd and a number of other leading citizens connected with the construction industry, as well as professional organisations within the city, to represent and provide a forum for all the skills which are required in the construction and maintenance of buildings. This representation inspired the Guild logo.
​
The builders of medieval York included masons, glaziers, plumbers, plasterers and tilers and the largest of the entire group who worked in wood, variously described as carpenters, sawyers, joiners and carvers. Of these only four crafts became organised into Guilds: the Carpenters, the Masons, the Tile Thatchers and the Plasterers. However these Guilds came to an end in York in the early nineteenth century.

The Guild operates with a Court of Assistants under the leadership of the Master for the year, assisted by Senior and Junior Wardens. Five members of the Court are elected annually by the membership. In addition several organisations connected with the construction industry nominate representatives, together with York College. Membership is open to any person involved in any aspect of building and associated activities. The day to day running of the Guild is in the care of the Honorary Clerk.

The Guild is committed to the advancement of design, management, science and craft in building and the better understanding of the problems and achievements of those engaged in building.
​
To support the objectives of the Guild a very full programme of lectures, talks and visits, complimented by a range of social activities is produced by the court each year.

The Yorkshire County Committee was established in 1920, as a regional committee of what was then the The National Union of Agricultural Workers (NUAW). The name was later changed to the Yorkshire Area Committee until the NUAAW's merger with TGWU in 1981. The committee, and the NUAW in general, worked closely with the Labour Party, and several prominent individuals with the Yorkshire area, in particular Joan Maynard (1921-1998) and Bert Hazell (1907-2009) who went on to take positions within the national Executive Committee of the NUAAW, later became Labour Party MPs.

The union also worked closed with other unions in the area, including the Northern Regional Council for County Council Roadmen.

The National Union of Agricultural and Allied Workers
The NUAW was the first successful national body for farm workers, initially presided over by Joseph Arch. It began as the National Agricultural Labourers' Union in 1872 before changing to the National Union of Agricultural Workers in July 1906. In 1910 they changed their name to the National Agricultural Labourers and Rural Workers Union, again in 1920 to the National Union of Agricultural Workers (NUAW), and again in 1968 to the National Union of Agricultural and Allied Workers (NUAAW). This name then remained until the union was amalgamated with the Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU) in 1981. TGWU merged with Amicus in 2007 to form part of the new, Unite the Union.

NUAW membership was largely made up of farm agricultural labourers but also catered for non-farm workers such as those in forestry, market gardening, and gardeners. The union published its own journal, 'The Land Worker', which included reports on the activities of the unions across the country.