Portal:Organized Labour

Introduction

Image created by Walter Crane to celebrate International Workers' Day (May Day, 1 May), 1889. The image depicts workers from the five populated continents (Africa, Asia, Americas, Australia and Europe) in unity underneath an angel representing freedom, fraternity and equality.

The labour movement or labor movement consists of two main wings: the trade union movement (British English) or labor union movement (American English) on the one hand, and the political labour movement on the other.

The trade union movement (trade unionism) consists of the collective organisation of working people developed to represent and campaign for better working conditions and treatment from their employers and, by the implementation of labour and employment laws, from their governments. The standard unit of organisation is the trade union.

The political labour movement in many countries includes a political party that represents the interests of employees, often known as a "labour party" or "workers' party". Many individuals and political groups otherwise considered to represent ruling classes may be part of, and active in, the labour movement.

The labour movement developed as a response to the industrial capitalism of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, at about the same time as socialism. (Full article...)

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Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of workers' compensation and rights for workers. The interests of the employees are commonly presented by representatives of a trade union to which the employees belong. A collective agreement reached by these negotiations functions as a labour contract between an employer and one or more unions, and typically establishes terms regarding wage scales, working hours, training, health and safety, overtime, grievance mechanisms, and rights to participate in workplace or company affairs. Such agreements can also include 'productivity bargaining' in which workers agree to changes to working practices in return for higher pay or greater job security.

The union may negotiate with a single employer (who is typically representing a company's shareholders) or may negotiate with a group of businesses, depending on the country, to reach an industry-wide agreement. Collective bargaining consists of the process of negotiation between representatives of a union and employers (generally represented by management, or, in some countries such as Austria, Sweden and the Netherlands, by an employers' organization) in respect of the terms and conditions of employment of employees, such as wages, hours of work, working conditions, grievance procedures, and about the rights and responsibilities of trade unions. The parties often refer to the result of the negotiation as a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) or as a collective employment agreement (CEA). (Full article...)

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September in Labor History

Significant dates in labour history.

September 01 - Walter Reuther was born; William Z. Foster died; International Brotherhood of Boilermakers was formed; Working America was founded
September 02 - Federal troops intervened in the Battle of Blair Mountain in 1921 in the U.S.; Franz Leopold Neumann died; the Rock Springs massacre occurred in 1885 in the U.S.
September 04 - The Textile workers strike of 1934 began in the U.S.; former unionist Francisco Largo Caballero became prime minister of Spain; Thomas R. Donahue was born
September 05 - Victor Gotbaum was born; Elizabeth Gurley Flynn died
September 06 - Johan Nygaardsvold was born
September 07 - Southampton Dock strike of 1890 began in the U.K.; Ela Bhatt was born; Cornelius Shea was born
September 08 - The Delano grape strike began in 1965 in the U.S.; Kenneth Yablonski died; Ben Gold was born
September 09 - John Mitchell died; the Hanapepe massacre occurred in 1924 in the Hawaii
September 10 - Lattimer massacre occurred in the U.S.
September 11 - Russell Crowell died
September 12 - Tom Mooney was born; George L. Berry was born
September 13 - Amado V. Hernández was born; Carlos Bulosan died; George Hardy died
September 14 - Albert Shanker was born; the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act became law in the U.S.; the U.S. Steel recognition strike of 1901 ended in the U.S.; Leon J. Davis died; the German Trade Union of the Police was founded in 1950; James Duncan died
September 15 - The Invergordon Mutiny occurred in 1931 in the U.K.; the Free Workers' Union of Germany was founded in 1919
September 16 - The 2004–05 NHL lockout began in the U.S. and Canada; the Farm Labor Organizing Committee signed a first contract with the Mt. Olive Pickle Company in the U.S.
September 17 - Miguel Contreras was born; David Dubinsky died; the National Federation of Federal Employees was formed
September 18 - Sandra Feldman died; James Scullin was born; Teamsters for a Democratic Union was founded; Thomas E. Scanlon was born; Mary Lee died
September 19 - Joe Glazer died; the National Football League Players Association struck in 1982 in the U.S.
September 20 - Lewis B. Schwellenbach was born; Sam Church was born; Nathan Feinsinger was born; the Namibia Food and Allied Workers Union was founded
September 21 - John White died; Arlene Holt Baker became the first African-American officer of the AFL–CIO in 2007
September 22 - Steel strike of 1919 began in the U.S.; the Winter of Discontent began in the U.K. as workers struck Ford
September 23 - The Sydney Twelve were arrested in 1916 in Australia
September 24 - The Workers Trade Union Law is passed in Bahrain
September 25 - The Atomic Trades and Labor Council was founded; the Health Professionals and Allied Employees conducted its first strike in 1979 in the U.S.
September 26 - The Temple University Graduate Students Association was founded
September 27 - The Santa Barbara News-Press unionization effort began in the U.S.; the Change to Win Federation was formed
September 28 - Alice Mahon was born
September 29 - The Liverpool dockers' strike began in 1995 in the UK.
September 30 - Ignatius Wolfington died; the first legal version of Solidarity was formed in 1985 in Poland

Jan•Feb•Mar•Apr•May•Jun•Jul•Aug•Sep•Oct•Nov•Dec

More Did you know (auto-generated)

... that Wilhelm Knabe, a co-founder of the Greens in Germany and a "green" mayor of Mülheim, participated in Fridays For Future with the slogan "Opa For Future"?
... that a number of bus drivers who participated in a strike were unaware that it was illegally held?
... that following the ban of its labour unions in 1934, the Romanian United Socialist Party would rely on its youth and women's wings for political action?
... that after Kellogg's announced plans to replace striking workers in 2021, members of r/antiwork organized to submit fake applications to the company's hiring system?
... that the opening day of a California TV station was affected by a strike when workers refused to cross a two-man picket line?
... that in 1969, the first women's strike for equal pay in the Netherlands was called in a cigar factory in Nieuwe Pekela?

Related Portals

Selected image

Image 1Samuel Gompers.
Image 2Union members picketing recent NLRB rulings outside the agency's Washington, D.C., headquarters in November 2007.
Image 3Exaggerated 19th century engraving showing flames and smoke following the Haymarket riot.
Image 4The Place de la Sorbonne in Paris is closed by police during the 2006 labour protests in France.
Image 5Striking I.W.W. members confront Massachusetts National Guard troops in Boston, during the Lawrence textile strike in 1912.
Image 6Crowd gathered outside old City Hall during the Winnipeg general strike, June 21, 1919.
Image 7United Mine Workers of America poster circa 1902.
Image 8Memorial marker for the Bay View Tragedy.
Image 9Empty Gare du Nord train station during the November 2007 strikes in France.
Image 10Former headquarters of the United Mine Workers of America and the Congress of Industrial Organizations, 900 15th Street NW, Washington, D.C., in 200.
Image 11Joe Hill.
Image 12Members of the United Steelworkers in Ohio phone bank other union members to educate them about critical issues in the 2008 election in the U.S.
Image 13Rally in Dhaka, organized by Jatiyo Nari Shramik Trade Union Kendra (National Women Workers Trade Union Centre), an organization affiliated with the Bangladesh Trade Union Kendra.
Image 14Picket signs at the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike.
Image 15The Ludlow massacre monument located in Ludlow, Colorado, United States.
Image 16Illustration from the Brisbane Worker newspaper condemning the brutality of the Queensland Police on Black Friday during the 1912 Brisbane General Strike.
Image 17Barges set ablaze by steelworkers during the Homestead strike in 1892.
Image 18Cripple Creek, Colo., under martial law, during the 1894 strike.
Image 19Striking American Railway Union members confront Illinois National Guard troops in Chicago, Illinois, during the Pullman Strike in 1894.
Image 20American Federation of Teachers (AFT) president Albert Shanker.
Image 21J. Warren Madden, the first Chair of the National Labor Relations Board.
Image 22Armed vigilantes deport striking copper miners during the Bisbee Deportation in Bisbee, Arizona, July 12, 1917.
Image 23Political cartoon about the Coal Strike of 1902 from the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Image 24AFL–CIO unions protest outside Verizon headquarters in Philadelphia using a giant inflatable rat.
Image 25Detail of monument to the Reesor Siding Strike of 1963.
Image 26Great Railroad Strike of 1877.
Image 27Union members march in Argentina on Human Rights Day in December 2005. The signs read "Worker rights are human rights..
Image 28Australian industrial relations legislation national day of protest, 2005.
Image 29During World War II, a female aircraft worker checks electrical assemblies at the Vega Aircraft Corporation in Burbank, California.
Image 30Striking workers march moments before the Swedish military opened fire, killing five workers during the Ådalen shootings.
Image 31Union elections with an illegal firing, 1951 to 2007.
Image 32Protesters barricade the street on June 22 during the 2006 Oaxaca protests.
Image 33Camp put up by striking Pepsi-Cola workers, in Guatemala City, Guatemala, 2008.
Image 34Richard Trumka.
Image 35Registered nurses on strike in 2006 outside Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital.
Image 36May Day Rally in Mumbai, India, 2004.
Image 37Samuel Gompers, President of the American Federation of Labor, and his wife, circa 1908.
Image 38An AFL–CIO protest of Rite Aid, with Rev. Mark Reisinger (Pastor of Grace United Methodist Church in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania), Bill George, and Richard Bloomingdale.
Image 39A. Philip Randolph.
Image 40Public and Commercial Services Union members on strike in Manchester 2006.
Image 41Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York) notice of subway closure during the 2005 New York City transit strike.
Image 42Wilma B. Liebman, chair, NLRB.
Image 43Strike sign used by the German Train Drivers' Union in the German national rail strike of 2007.
Image 44Strike leaders at the Paterson silk strike of 1913. From left, Patrick Quinlan, Carlo Tresca, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, Adolph Lessig, and Bill Haywood.
Image 45Striking teamsters armed with pipes battle police in the streets during the Minneapolis Teamsters Strike of 1934.
Image 46National Federation of Federal Employees officials sign a collective bargaining agreement with the U.S. 8th Army in October 2002.
Image 47Breaker boys, child laborers, working in a U.S. coal mine in 1911.
Image 48Shields used by striking workers at the Carnegie Steel Works during the Homestead Strike in 1892.
Image 49The Western Federation of Miners' famous flyer entitled "Is Colorado in America?".
Image 50Lewis Hine's 1920 image "Power house mechanic working on steam pump," which shows a working class young American man with wrench in hand, hunched over, surrounded by the machinery that defines his work.
Image 51The front page of the Union Record on the Seattle General Strike of 1919.
Image 52Mounted police chase demonstrators through Vancouver's East End during the Battle of Ballantyne Pier in 1935.
Image 53Big Bill Haywood, a founding member and leader of the Industrial Workers of the World.
Image 54John L. Lewis (right, President of the United Mine Workers, confers with Thomas Kennedy (left), UMW Secretary-Treasurer of the UMW, and a UMW official at the War Labor Board in 1943 about a coal miners' strike.
Image 55Mary Harris "Mother" Jones.
Image 56Knights of Labor Grand Master Workman Terence V. Powderly.
Image 57George Meany, former leader of the AFL–CIO.
Image 58William Green, president of the AFL–CIO from 1924 to 1952.

Selected Quote

The workers have nothing to lose in this but their chains. They have the world to gain. Workers of the world unite!"

— Karl Marx.

Did you know

...that the steel strike of 1959 led to significant importation of foreign steel for the first time in United States history?
... that the McClellan Committee served 8,000 subpoenas, took testimony from 1,526 witnesses (343 of whom invoked the Fifth Amendment), and compiled almost 150,000 pages of evidence?
...that anarchism once was the strongest current in the Cuban labor movement?

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