Mundella's main concerns on joining the House were trade union reform and the need for free, compulsory schooling and for technical training. In regard to the former, trade unionism had no greater friend than Mundella. He was a firm believer in the right of working men and women to combine to protect their interests, and much of his energy in Parliament was devoted to securing the same rights for them as were enjoyed by their employers. In 1869 Mundella began to plan a Private Members' Bill to legalise the unions and attempt to give them financial security. Though the Bill did not proceed, his efforts did secure a temporary Government Bill which gave protection to trade union funds and two years later led to the Trade Union Act 1871 which legalised trade unions for the first time and protected their funds by legal registration.