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 (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", such as attaining better wages and benefits (such as holiday, health care, and retirement), improving working conditions, improving safety standards, establishing complaint procedures, developing rules governing status of employees (rules governing promotions, just-cause-conditions for termination) and protecting the integrity of their trade through the increased bargaining power wielded by solidarity among workers.

Trade unions typically fund their head office and legal team functions through regularly imposed fees called union dues. The delegate staff of the trade union representation in the workforce are usually made up of workplace volunteers who are often appointed by members in democratic elections.

The trade union, through an elected leadership and bargaining committee, bargains with the employer on behalf of its members, known as the rank-and-file, and negotiates labour contracts (collective bargaining agreements) with employers.

Unions may organize a particular section of skilled or unskilled workers (craft unionism), a cross-section of workers from various trades (general unionism), or an 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 (Italian: Unione Italiana del Lavoro) is a national trade union center in Italy. It was founded in 1950 as a socialist, social democratic, (republican) and laic split from the 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...)

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August in Labor History

Significant dates in labour history.

August 01 - The Jiu Valley miners' strike of 1977 began in Romania; the 1942–44 musicians' strike began in the U.S.; Mary Harris "Mother" Jones was born; the United Firefighters Union of Australia was founded
August 02 - Robert Zieger was born; the Contrat nouvelle embauche entered into force in France in 2005
August 03 - The Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization strike began in the U.S.
August 04 - Joseph Paul-Boncour was born; the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers was formed
August 05 - The Lupeni Strike of 1929 occurred in Romania; the National Labor Board was created; Devan Nair was born
August 06 - Jackie Presser was born
August 07 - Frank Fitzsimmons was born
August 08 - David McDonald died; the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America was formed; Arthur Goldberg was born
August 09 - The California School Employees Association was founded; Raymond McKay died; Harry Davenport died; Thomas E. Scanlon died; the 1981 Major League Baseball strike ended in the U.S. and Canada; John Willcock was born
August 10 - The U.S. Steel recognition strike of 1901 began; Iorwith Wilbur Abel died; Dorothy Jacobs Bellanca was born
August 11 - The International Longshore and Warehouse Union was founded; Iorwith Wilbur Abel was born; Rose Schneiderman died; Edwin D. Hill was born
August 12 - The Buffalo switchmen's strike of 1892 began; the 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike began in the U.S. and Canada; the National War Labor Board was abolished in 1919; the Chorus Equity Association was founded; the Unión General de Trabajadores was founded
August 13 - Carlos Ortega escaped from prison in Venezuela and disappeared
August 14 - Solidarity struck for the first time; Joseph Curran died; Lane Kirkland died; Selig Perlman died; N. M. Perera died
August 15 - The 1890 Australian maritime dispute began; Herbert Hill died; lockout of the Canadian Media Guild began in 2005 in Canada; Anna Walentynowicz was born
August 16 - George Meany was born; Dorothy Jacobs Bellanca died
August 18 - The 1989 Australian pilots' strike began; the American Federation of Government Employees was founded; Alberto Hurtado died
August 19 - The Maritime Trades Department of the AFL–CIO was founded; Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association launched a strike against Northwest Airlines
August 22 - The United Farm Workers was founded; the Association of Flight Attendants was founded
August 23 - The Gurindji strike began in 1966 in Australia; the Salad Bowl strike began in the U.S.
August 24 - Ray Stevenson died
August 25 - The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters was founded; the Battle of Blair Mountain began in 1921 in the U.S.; the 2006 Progressive Enterprises dispute began in New Zealand; the Buffalo switchmen's strike ended in the U.S.; Charles Millard was born; Miron Cozma was born
August 26 - The Dublin Lock-out began in 1913
August 27 - Juan Lechín Oquendo died
August 28 - The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom occurred; the film Matewan was released; the Central Única dos Trabalhadores was founded
August 29 - The British police strikes in 1918 and 1919 began; the U.S. Supreme Court ruled picketing is not a breach of the peace in Cox v. Louisiana; Emmanuel Christopher Loblack was born
August 31 - The Gdańsk Agreement was signed, ending the first wave of strikes by Solidarity

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

More Did you know (auto-generated)

... that in September 2020, two labor unions both performed strike actions against the University of Illinois Hospital in Chicago?
... that in the 1951 court case Kuzych v White, on appeal from the British Columbia Court of Appeal, five law lords of the British Judicial Committee ruled in favour of a Communist-led trade union?
... that "The Strike" (1954), about an American officer's turmoil in ordering an air strike on his own men, was rated as Rod Serling's best script he had written to date?
... that a strike by uranium miners in 1974 in Ontario led to the creation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act?
... that John R. Davis Jr., the U.S. ambassador to Poland, was known to host leaders of the banned trade union Solidarity at his home?
... that Louie Cullen, known as "the last of the suffragettes", started a prison hunger strike after her arrest for a 1908 attempt to rush into the House of Commons to promote women's right to vote in the UK?

Related Portals

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

Selected Quote

What is a labour victory? I maintain that it is a twofold thing. Workers must gain economic advantage, but they must also gain revolutionary spirit, in order to achieve a complete victory. For workers to gain a few cents more a day, a few minutes less a day, and go back to work with the same psychology, the same attitude toward society is to achieve a temporary gain and not a lasting victory."

— Elizabeth Gurley Flynn

Did you know

...that lobbying by the International Seamen's Union led to the abolition of the practice of imprisoning seamen who deserted their ship in the United States in 1915?
...that the West End Street Railway fired Cyrus S. Ching in 1901 after he was nearly electrocuted on the job, only to appoint him manager two months later?
...that George W. Taylor assisted unions by mediating more than 2,000 strikes, but also helped draft New York's Taylor Law—which banned strikes by public employees?

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