Aside from local political action, Mundella's business experience showed him that progress in industry depended on reciprocal understanding between workers and employers, and that progress generally required significant improvements in the nation's education system, including technical training. He also recognised that very young children could not possibly be properly educated if they were spending their time working in factories. When travelling in continental Europe on business and on personal relaxation, Mundella saw at first-hand how superior the education systems of other countries were, particularly in Switzerland and the German states, and was dismayed at the comparative shortcomings of the English system. He knew that achieving the required progress in these matters would involve collective effort and increasing state intervention. At the same time, his business experience, arising from his humble working past, confirmed his belief in the desirability, indeed necessity, of trade unions. The opportunity to put his beliefs into action appeared unexpectedly in 1868.