Who did guilds try to help?

The trade guilds primarily were there to help their own members: they set standards of quality, regulated opening hours for shops of guild members, set rules for apprenticeships and for when you were allowed to operate as a master craftsman, helped sick members and provided for families of deceased members and vigorously acted against any form of "unauthorized" competition. Usually the guild Board members saw to it that they had somone in the town's Council or that they had a 'tame' representative there to look after their interests.