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.

A trade union (or a labor union in American English), often simply called a union, is an organization of workers who have come together to achieve many common goals, such as protecting the integrity of their trade, improving safety standards, and attaining better wages, benefits (such as vacation, health care, and retirement), and working conditions through the increased bargaining power wielded by the creation of a monopoly of the workers. Trade unions typically fund the formal organization, head office, and legal team functions of the trade union through regular fees or union dues. The delegate staff of the trade union representation in the workforce are made up of workplace volunteers who are appointed by members in democratic elections.

The trade union, through an elected leadership and bargaining committee, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members (rank and file members) and negotiates labour contracts (collective bargaining) with employers. The most common purpose of these associations or unions is "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment". This may include the negotiation of wages, work rules, occupational health and safety standards, complaint procedures, rules governing status of employees including promotions, just cause conditions for termination, and employment benefits.

Unions may organize a particular section of skilled workers (craft unionism), a cross-section of workers from various trades (general unionism), or attempt to organize all workers within a particular industry (industrial unionism). The agreements negotiated by a union are binding on the rank and file members and the employer and in some cases on other non-member workers. Trade unions traditionally have a constitution which details the governance of their bargaining unit and also have governance at various levels of government depending on the industry that binds them legally to their negotiations and functioning.

Originating in Great Britain, trade unions became popular in many countries during the Industrial Revolution. Trade unions may be composed of individual workers, professionals, past workers, students, apprentices or the unemployed. Trade union density, or the percentage of workers belonging to a trade union, is highest in the Nordic countries. (Full article...)

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The Italian Labour Union or UIL, in Italian Unione Italiana del Lavoro, is a national trade union center in Italy. It was founded in 1950 as socialist, social democratic, (republican) and laic split from Italian General Confederation of Labour (CGIL, Confederazione Generale Italiana del Lavoro). It represents almost 2.2 million workers.

The UIL is affiliated with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), and the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). (Full article...)

List of selected articles

January in Labor History

Significant dates in labour history.

January 01 - The 1966 New York City transit strike began; the United Transportation Union was founded; the Swedish Trade Union Confederation was founded; Union Network International was founded; the Workplace Relations Act 1996 entered into force in Australia
January 02 - The Sago Mine disaster occurred in the 2006 in the U.S.
January 03 - The 1929 Australian timber workers' strike began; Guy Ryder was born
January 04 - The St. John's University strike of 1966–67 began in the U.S.; the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union merged in 1999 with the United Paperworkers International Union to form the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union
January 05 - The 1891 Australian shearers' strike began; the 1919 Spartacist uprising began in Berlin
January 07 - Edward T. Hanley died; A. P. T. James died
January 08 - SEIU Local 1.on was founded
January 09 - Maurice Hutcheson died; Sol Chick Chaikin was born
January 11 - The 1912 Lawrence textile strike began in the U.S.; Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union merged with the United Steelworkers; Bogdan Borusewicz was born
January 12 - Cornelius Shea died
January 14 - The Reesor Siding strike of 1963 began in Canada; Joseph Glimco was born
January 15 - Michael Sommer was born; the song "Solidarity Forever" is written; the Steel strike of 1959 ends in the U.S.
January 16 - Dutta Samant was murdered; Leonard Woodcock died; Daniel John O'Donoghue died
January 17 - Pablo Manlapit was born
January 18 - The U.S. Supreme Court decided Moyer v. Peabody in 1909; Mary Kenney O'Sullivan died; the 1912 Brisbane general strike began in Australia; the Dublin Lock-out ended in 1914; Paul Keating was born; the Great Bombay textile strike began
January 19 - Thomas Kennedy died; Morris Kight died; Bill Andersen died; Annie Buller died
January 20 - The Tunisian General Labour Union was founded; trade unions launched the 2005 civil unrest in Belize; Harriot Eaton Stanton Blatch was born; Bruce Nissen was born
January 21 - Edward T. Hanley was born; Bill Andersen was born; James Henry Thomas died; Nicholas Pollard Sr. died
January 22 - The United Mine Workers was founded; Terence V. Powderly was born; Andrew Furuseth died; Chea Vichea was murdered; Gyula Peidl died; Ong Teng Cheong died
January 23 - David Sullivan died; Nikolaus Gross died
January 24 - The Wapping dispute began in 1986 in the U.K.; Emil Rieve died; the 1977 Massacre of Atocha occurred in Spain; Henri Krasucki died; Herbert Hill was born; the Supreme Court of Canada issued its reasoning in R.W.D.S.U., Local 558 v. Pepsi-Cola Canada Beverages (West) Ltd.; the Alliance for Labor Action was dissolved
January 25 - The Sheet Metal Workers' International Association was founded; Matthew Woll was born; Chummy Fleming died
January 26 - Bernard Kleiman was born
January 27 - Samuel Gompers was born; the U.S. Supreme Court decided Lechmere, Inc. v. NLRB; Ben Tillett died; the U.S. Supreme Court decided Adair v. United States; Frank Tudor was born
January 28 - Mike Quill died; Harry Lundeberg died; Mike Moore was born; James Scullin died
January 29 - The Timex strike began in 1993 in Scotland; Anna LoPizzo died; John M. Dunn died
January 30 - Edward Heitmann died
January 31 - The 1919 Battle of George Square occurred in Scotland; New Orleans fired all members of the United Teachers of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina; Bob Semple died

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

More Did you know (auto-generated)

... that the web series Avrodh: The Siege Within meticulously details the planning for India's retaliatory military strike following the 2016 Uri terrorist attacks?
... that Ottilie Baader was one of the founders of the first trade union organization for women in Germany?
... that Hurricane Dorian was the strongest hurricane on record to strike the Bahamas?
... that Józefa Joteyko believed that wages should be based upon scientific research and the amount of effort required to do a job, rather than arbitrary factors like gender?
... that Italy bombed a Swedish hospital in Dolo during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War?
... that one out of ten labourers in the haruwa–charuwa system is forced to work when seriously ill or injured, and may still face deduction or non-payment of wages?

Selected image

Striking American Railway Union members confront Illinois National Guard troops in Chicago, Illinois, during the Pullman Strike in 1894.
American Federation of Teachers (AFT) president Albert Shanker.
The front page of the Union Record on the Seattle General Strike of 1919.
The Ludlow massacre monument located in Ludlow, Colorado, United States.
Rally 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.
Shields used by striking workers at the Carnegie Steel Works during the Homestead Strike in 1892.
Empty Gare du Nord train station during the November 2007 strikes in France.
John 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.
Registered nurses on strike in 2006 outside Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital.
AFL–CIO unions protest outside Verizon headquarters in Philadelphia using a giant inflatable rat.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York) notice of subway closure during the 2005 New York City transit strike.
Crowd gathered outside old City Hall during the Winnipeg general strike, June 21, 1919.
William Green, president of the AFL–CIO from 1924 to 1952.
Strike leaders at the Paterson silk strike of 1913. From left, Patrick Quinlan, Carlo Tresca, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, Adolph Lessig, and Bill Haywood.
George Meany, former leader of the AFL–CIO.
J. Warren Madden, the first Chair of the National Labor Relations Board.
Public and Commercial Services Union members on strike in Manchester 2006.
Armed vigilantes deport striking copper miners during the Bisbee Deportation in Bisbee, Arizona, July 12, 1917.
May Day Rally in Mumbai, India, 2004.
Mounted police chase demonstrators through Vancouver's East End during the Battle of Ballantyne Pier in 1935.
Barges set ablaze by steelworkers during the Homestead strike in 1892.
Union members picketing recent NLRB rulings outside the agency's Washington, D.C., headquarters in November 2007.
Former headquarters of the United Mine Workers of America and the Congress of Industrial Organizations, 900 15th Street NW, Washington, D.C., in 200.
Striking teamsters armed with pipes battle police in the streets during the Minneapolis Teamsters Strike of 1934.
Striking I.W.W. members confront Massachusetts National Guard troops in Boston, during the Lawrence textile strike in 1912.
Union members march in Argentina on Human Rights Day in December 2005. The signs read "Worker rights are human rights..
Camp put up by striking Pepsi-Cola workers, in Guatemala City, Guatemala, 2008.
Samuel Gompers.
An AFL–CIO protest of Rite Aid, with Rev. Mark Reisinger (Pastor of Grace United Methodist Church in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania), Bill George, and Richard Bloomingdale.
Knights of Labor Grand Master Workman Terence V. Powderly.
Australian industrial relations legislation national day of protest, 2005.
Strike sign used by the German Train Drivers' Union in the German national rail strike of 2007.
Members 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.
Wilma B. Liebman, chair, NLRB.
National Federation of Federal Employees officials sign a collective bargaining agreement with the U.S. 8th Army in October 2002.
Samuel Gompers, President of the American Federation of Labor, and his wife, circa 1908.
Striking workers march moments before the Swedish military opened fire, killing five workers during the Ådalen shootings.
The Place de la Sorbonne in Paris is closed by police during the 2006 labour protests in France.
Mary Harris "Mother" Jones.
Great Railroad Strike of 1877.
Illustration from the Brisbane Worker newspaper condemning the brutality of the Queensland Police on Black Friday during the 1912 Brisbane General Strike.
Picket signs at the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike.
Big Bill Haywood, a founding member and leader of the Industrial Workers of the World.
The Western Federation of Miners' famous flyer entitled "Is Colorado in America?".
Cripple Creek, Colo., under martial law, during the 1894 strike.
Richard Trumka.
United Mine Workers of America poster circa 1902.
Lewis 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.
Detail of monument to the Reesor Siding Strike of 1963.
Exaggerated 19th century engraving showing flames and smoke following the Haymarket riot.
Political cartoon about the Coal Strike of 1902 from the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
A. Philip Randolph.
Protesters barricade the street on June 22 during the 2006 Oaxaca protests.
During World War II, a female aircraft worker checks electrical assemblies at the Vega Aircraft Corporation in Burbank, California.
Breaker boys, child laborers, working in a U.S. coal mine in 1911.
Memorial marker for the Bay View Tragedy.
Joe Hill.
Union elections with an illegal firing, 1951 to 2007.

Selected Quote

In spite of oppressors, in spite of false leaders, in spite of labor's own lack of understanding of its needs, the cause of the worker continues onward. Slowly his hours are shortened, giving him leisure to read and to think. Slowly his standard of living rises to include some of the good and beautiful things of the world. Slowly the cause of his children becomes the cause of all. His boy is taken from the breaker, his girl from the mill. Slowly those who create the wealth of the world are permitted to share it. The future is in labor's strong, rough hands."

— Mary Harris Jones.

Did you know

...that the Alliance for Retired Americans was instrumental in enacting Medicare?
...that the Sheet Metal Workers International Association Local 28 in New York City negotiated the first pension plan in the construction industry?
... that the miners' union leader Óscar Salas Moya was a candidate for vice-president of Bolivia in 1985?

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