The Lawrence textile strike (1912), with soldiers surrounding peaceful demonstrators

A trade union or labor union is an organization of workers who have banded together to achieve common goals in key areas such as wages, hours, and working conditions, forming a cartel of labour. The Lawrence Textile Strike was a strike of immigrant workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts in 1912 led by the Industrial Workers of the World. A cartel is a formal (explicit agreement among firms Cartels usually occur in an oligopolistic industry, where there is a small number of sellers and usually involve The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members (rank and file members) and negotiates labour contracts with employers. This may include the negotiation of wages, work rules, complaint procedures, rules governing hiring, firing and promotion of workers, benefits, workplace safety and policies. The agreements negotiated by the union leaders are binding on the rank and file members and the employer and in some cases on other non-member workers.

These organizations may comprise individual workers, professionals, past workers, or the unemployed. This article is about people called professionals For the Movie, see The Professional or Leon. Retirement is the point where a person stops employment completely Unemployment occurs when a person is available to work and currently seeking work but the person is without work. The most common, but by no means only, purpose of these organizations is "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment"^[1]

Over the last three hundred years, many trade unions have developed into a number of forms, influenced by differing political and economic regimes. Employment is a Contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. The immediate objectives and activities of trade unions vary, but may include:

• Provision of benefits to members: Early trade unions, like Friendly Societies, often provided a range of benefits to insure members against unemployment, ill health, old age and funeral expenses. A friendly society (sometimes called a mutual society, benevolent society or fraternal organization) is a mutual association for insurance-like Unemployment occurs when a person is available to work and currently seeking work but the person is without work. In many developed countries, these functions have been assumed by the state; however, the provision of professional training, legal advice and representation for members is still an important benefit of trade union membership.
• Collective bargaining: Where trade unions are able to operate openly and are recognized by employers, they may negotiate with employers over wages and working conditions. Collective bargaining is the process whereby workers organize together to meet converse and compromise upon the work environment with their employers A wage is a compensation workers receive in exchange for their labor.
• Industrial action: Trade unions may enforce strikes or resistance to lockouts in furtherance of particular goals. Industrial action (UK and Ireland or job action (US refers collectively to any measure taken by Trade unions or other organised labour meant to reduce Productivity Strike action, often simply called a strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal by Employees to perform work. A lockout is a Work stoppage in which an Employer prevents employees from working
• Political activity: Trade unions may promote legislation favorable to the interests of their members or workers as a whole. To this end they may pursue campaigns, undertake lobbying, or financially support individual candidates or parties (such as the Labour Party in Britain) for public office. The Labour Party is a Political party in the United Kingdom. Founded at the start of the 20th century it has been since the 1920s the principal party of the

History of trade unions

Part of a series on Organized Labor
The Labor Movement
New Unionism · Proletariat
Social Movement Unionism
Syndicalism · Socialism
Labor timeline
Labor rights
Child labor · Eight-hour day
Occupational safety and health
Collective bargaining
Trade unions
Trade unions by country
Trade union federations
International comparisons
ITUC · WFTU · IWA
Strike actions
Chronological list of strikes
General strike · Sympathy strike
Sitdown strike · Work-to-rule
Trade unionists
César Chávez · Samuel Gompers
Jimmy Hoffa · A. Philip Randolph
Ken Saro-Wiwa · Lowell girls
James Larkin · Bob White more names
Academic Disciplines
Labor in economics
Labor history (discipline)
Industrial relations
Labor law
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The traces of trade unions' existence could be traced from the eighteenth century, The rapid expansion of industrial society was to draw women, children, rural workers, and immigrants to the work force in larger numbers and in new roles. The labour movement or labor movement is a broad term for the development of a collective organization of working people, to campaign in their own interest for better New Unionism is a term which has been used twice in the history of the labour movement both times involving moves to broaden the union agenda The proletariat (from Latin la ''proles'' "offspring" is a term used to identify a lower Social class; a member of such a class is proletarian Social Movement Unionism is a trend of theory and practice in contemporary trade unionism Syndicalism is a type of movement which aims to degrade capitalist societies through action by the Working class on the industrial front Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating state or collective ownership and administration of the Means of production and distribution Timeline of Organized labor history 1790s - 1800s - 1810s - 1820s - 1830s - 1840s - 1850s Labor rights or workers' rights are a group of Legal rights and claimed Human rights having to do with Labor relations between Workers Child labor is the employment of Children at regular and sustained labour The 8-hour day movement or 40-hour week movement (aka the Short-time movement) had its origins in the Industrial Revolution in Britain, where Occupational safety and health is a cross-disciplinary area concerned with protecting the Safety, Health and welfare of people engaged in Collective bargaining is the process whereby workers organize together to meet converse and compromise upon the work environment with their employers This is a list of Trade unions and Union federations by country This is a list of federations of Trade unions. Those federations listed under each country are also known as National trade union centres and are organisations formed Unions have been compared across countries by growth and decline patterns by violence levels and by kinds of political activity Inaugural Congress The founding and first congress of the ITUC was held November 1 - 3 2006 in Vienna TemplateInfobox Union for usage -->The World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU was established in the wake of the Second Template talkInfobox Union for usage --> The International Workers' Association ( IWA) ( Spanish: Strike action, often simply called a strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal by Employees to perform work. The following is a list of deliberate absence from work related to specific working conditions ( strikes) or due to general unhappiness with the political order ( General strikes A general strike is a Strike action by a critical mass of the labour force in a city region or country A sympathy strike is a Strike action that is initiated by workers in one industry and supported by workers in a separate but related industry or profession A sit-down strike is a form of Civil disobedience in which an organized group of workers usually employed at a factory or other centralized location take possession of Work-to-rule is an Industrial action in which Employees do no more than the minimum required by the rules of a workplace and follow safety or other regulations to César Estrada Chávez ( March 31, 1927 – April 23, 1993) born in Yuma Arizona, was a Mexican-American farm worker Labor Samuel Gompers (January 27 1850 - December 13 1924 was an American labor union leader and a key figure in American labor history. James Riddle ("Jimmy" Hoffa ( February 14, 1913 - disappeared July 30, 1975, exact Asa Philip Randolph ( April 15 1889 &ndash May 16 1979) was a prominent twentieth century African-American civil rights leader Kenule "Ken" Beeson Saro-Wiwa ( October 10, 1941 &ndash November 10, 1995) was a Nigerian author television producer and "Lowell Mill Girls" was the name used for female textile workers in Lowell Massachusetts in the 19th century For his son see James Larkin Jnr, and for the English actor see James Larkin (actor. For other people named "Bob White" or "Robert White" see Bob White (disambiguation and Robert White. Labor history (or labour history) is a broad field of study concerned with the development of the Labor movement and the Working class. The field of industrial relations (also called labor relations) looks at the relationship between Management and workers particularly groups of workers represented Labour law (also known as employment or labor law is the body of Laws administrative rulings and precedents which address the legal rights of and restrictions This pool of unskilled and semi-skilled labour spontaneously organized in fits and starts throughout its beginnings,^[1] and would later be an important arena for the development of trade unions.

Origins and early history

Trade unions have sometimes been seen as successors to the guilds of medieval Europe, though the relationship between the two is disputed. A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade The earliest guilds were formed as confraternities of workers ^[2] Medieval guilds existed to protect and enhance their members' livelihoods through controlling the instructional capital of artisanship and the progression of members from apprentice to craftsman, journeyman, and eventually to master and grandmaster of their craft. Instructional capital is a term used in educational administration after the 1960s to reflect capital resulting from investment in producing learning materials A trade as an occupation usually refers to the profession that require some particular kind of skilled work Apprenticeship is a system of Training a new generation of practitioners of a skill An artisan, also called a Craftsman, is a skilled manual worker who crafts items that may be functional or strictly decorative including furniture clothing A journeyman is a trader or crafter who has completed an Apprenticeship. A master craftsman (sometimes called only master or grandmaster, Meister was a member of a Guild. They also labor union might include workers from only one trade or craft, or might combine several or all the workers in one company or industry. Since the publication of the History of Trade Unionism (1894) by Sidney and Beatrice Webb, the predominant historical view is that a trade union "is a continuous association of wage earners for the purpose of maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment. History of Trade Unionism is a book by Sidney and Beatrice Webb. Sidney James Webb 1st Baron Passfield PC ( 13 July, 1859 &ndash 13 October, 1947) was a British socialist economist and reformer This article is about the socialist politician For the children's author see Beatrix Potter. "^[1] A modern definition by the Australian Bureau of Statistics states that a trade union is "an organization consisting predominantly of employees, the principal activities of which include the negotiation of rates of pay and conditions of employment for its members. "^[3]

Yet historian R. A. Leeson, in United we Stand (1971), said:

Recent historical research by Bob James in Craft, Trade or Mystery (2001) puts forward the view that trade unions are part of a broader movement of benefit societies, which includes medieval guilds, Freemasons, Oddfellows, friendly societies, and other fraternal organizations. Bob James may refer to Bob James (musician (born 1939 jazz keyboardist arranger and producer of music Bob James (baseball (born 1958 A benefit society or mutual aid society is an Organization or Voluntary association formed to provide Mutual aid, benefit or Insurance A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade The earliest guilds were formed as confraternities of workers There are various Orders of Odd Fellows world wide this article is about the North American organization and fellowship A friendly society (sometimes called a mutual society, benevolent society or fraternal organization) is a mutual association for insurance-like

The 18th century economist Adam Smith noted the imbalance in the rights of workers in regards to owners (or "masters"). An economist is an expert in the Social science of Economics. Adam Smith ( baptised 16 June 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish moral philosopher and a pioneer of Political economy. In The Wealth of Nations, Book I, chapter 8, Smith wrote:

As Smith noted, unions were illegal for many years in most countries (and Smith argued that schemes to fix wages or prices, by employees or employers, should be). There were severe penalties for attempting to organize unions, up to and including execution. Despite this, unions were formed and began to acquire political power, eventually resulting in a body of labor law that not only legalized organizing efforts, but codified the relationship between employers and those employees organized into unions. Even after the legitimization of trade unions there was opposition, as the case of the Tolpuddle Martyrs shows. The Tolpuddle Martyrs were a group of 19th century British labourers who were arrested for and convicted of swearing a secret oath as members of the Friendly Society

The right to join a trade union is mentioned in article 23, subsection 4 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which also states in article 20, subsection 2 that "No one may be compelled to belong to an association". The Universal Declaration of Human Rights ( UDHR) is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly ( 10 December 1948 at Palais Prohibiting a person from joining or forming a union, as well as forcing a person to do the same (e. g. "closed shops" or "union shops", see below), whether by a government or by a business, is generally considered a human rights abuse. Human rights refers to the "basic Rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled Similar allegations can be leveled if an employer discriminates based on trade union membership. Unlike most discrimination policies discrimination between, which is the discernment of qualities and recognition of the differences focused here discrimination against is Attempts by an employer, often with the help of outside agencies, to prevent union membership amongst their staff is known as union busting. Union busting is a practice that is undertaken by an employer or their agents to prevent employees from joining a labor union, or to disempower subvert or destroy unions

19th century unionism

The National Labor Union was the first national union in the United States. The National Labor Union ( NLU) was the first national labor federation in the United States. It was created in 1866 and included many types of workers. This union did not accomplish any significant gains. After this union crumbled, the Knights of Labor became the leading countrywide union in the 1860s. This union did not include Chinese, and partially included blacks and women.

The Knights of Labor was founded in the United States in 1869. The Knights of Labor, also known as Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor, was one of the most important American labor organizations of Eventually over 700,000 workers joined the Knights. They opposed child labor and demanded the eight-hour day. Child labor is the employment of Children at regular and sustained labour The 8-hour day movement or 40-hour week movement (aka the Short-time movement) had its origins in the Industrial Revolution in Britain, where They hoped their union would give workers “a proper share of the wealth they create,” more free time, and generally more benefits of society. They also tried to set up companies owned by the workers themselves. Although the Knights were against strikes, some radical members went on strike anyway when the railroads cut wages in 1884. After they won the fight, membership in the Knights boomed to 700,000, but then, at the time of the Haymarket Massacre, a fearful public opinion grouped them with anarchists and Communists, and membership then rapidly declined.

The American Federation of Labor (AFL) was founded by Samuel Gompers. The American Federation of Labor (AFL was one of the first federations of labor unions in the United States Samuel Gompers (January 27 1850 - December 13 1924 was an American labor union leader and a key figure in American labor history. By 1904, AFL-affiliated unions had a membership of over 1. 4 million nationwide. Under Gompers's leadership, the AFL advocated an approach known as "business" or "pure and simple" unionism, which emphasized collective bargaining to reach its goals. Demands were centered around improvements to the immediate work environment, like better wages, hours and working conditions.

In France, Germany, and other European countries, socialist parties and democrats played a prominent role in forming and building up trade unions, especially from the 1870s onwards. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. This stood in contrast to the British experience, where moderate New Model Unions dominated the union movement from the mid-nineteenth century and where trade unionism was stronger than the political labour movement until the formation and growth of the Labour Party in the early years of the twentieth century. New Model Trade Unions (NMTU were a variety of Trade Unions prominent in the 1850s and 1860s in the UK. The Labour Party is a Political party in the United Kingdom. Founded at the start of the 20th century it has been since the 1920s the principal party of the

Impact of unions

Proponents often credit trade unions with leading the labor movement in the early 20th century, which generally sought to end child labor practices, improve worker safety, increase wages for both union workers, raise the entire society's standard of living, reduce the hours in a work week, provide public education for children, and bring of other benefits to working class families. Child labor is the employment of Children at regular and sustained labour Occupational safety and health is a cross-disciplinary area concerned with protecting the Safety, Health and welfare of people engaged in The standard of living refers to the quality and quantity of goods and services available to people and the way these goods and services are distributed within a population

Advocates of unions claim that the higher wages that unions bring come at the expense of profits. However, as Milton Friedman pointed out, profits aren't high enough. 80% of national income is wages, and only about 6% is profits after tax, providing very little room for higher wages, even if profits could be totally used up. Moreover, profits are invested leading to an increase in capital: which raises the value of labour, increasing wages. If profits were totally removed, this source of wage increase would be removed. ^[4]

Instead of harming profits, unions increase the wages of about 10 to 15% of workers by about 10 to 15% by reducing the wages of the other 85 to 90% of workers by about 4%. ^[5][6] As the price of labour increases, the demand for it will decrease. Unions targets of industry protectionism and limits on immigration also have this effect, benefiting unionised workers at the cost of those without union membership.

The effect of union activities to influence pricing is potentially very harmful, making the market system ineffective. ^[7] By raising the price of labour, above the market rate deadweight loss is created. In Economics, a deadweight loss (also known as excess burden or allocative inefficiency) is a loss of economic efficiency that can occur when equilibrium Additional non-monetary benefits exacerbate the problem.

By causing wage increases above the market rate, unions increase the cost to businesses, causing them to raise their prices, leading to a general increase in the price level. In economics inflation or price inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services over a period of time ^[8]

F. A. Hayek, the Constitution of Liberty

Austrian economists such as Robert P. Murphy, however, dispute this, arguing that the increase in the cost of labour simply means that less of other goods can be bought. The Austrian School, also known as the “ Vienna School ” or the “ Psychological School ” is a heterodox school of economics that advocates Robert P "Bob" Murphy (born 23 May 1976) is an Austrian School Economist and Free market -oriented author He writes:

If unions succeed in wage hikes, and employers raise the prices they charge consumers to maintain their own profit margins, and the supply of money remains the same, then something else has to "give. " Either the prices of goods and services in nonunion sectors have to fall and offset the union sector hikes, or people's cash balances need to fall, in terms of their purchasing power. ^[9]

Unions today

Structure and politics

Union structures, politics, and legal status vary greatly from country to country. For specific country details see below.

A rally of the trade union UNISON in Oxford during a strike on 2006-03-28. In Music, a unison () is an interval, the ratio of 11 or 0 half steps and zero cents. Oxford is currently bidding for the 2010 Wikimania Conference Oxford () is a city, and the County town of Oxfordshire, Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 37 - Roman Emperor Caligula accepts the titles of the Principate, entitled to him by the Senate.

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). Craft unionism refers to organizing a union in a manner that seeks to unify workers in a particular industry along the lines of the particular Craft or trade that they work in A General Union is a Trade union (called Labor union in American English) which represents Workers from all industries and companies rather than Industrial unionism is a labor union organizing method through which all workers in the same industry are organized into the same union—regardless of skill or trade—thus These unions are often divided into "locals", and united in national federations. A local union, often shortened to local, known as a union branch in the United Kingdom is a locally-based Trade union organization which forms part of This is a list of federations of Trade unions. Those federations listed under each country are also known as National trade union centres and are organisations formed These federations themselves will affiliate with Internationals, such as the International Trade Union Confederation. International or internationally most often describes interaction between Nations or encompassing two or more nations constituting a group or association having Inaugural Congress The founding and first congress of the ITUC was held November 1 - 3 2006 in Vienna

In many countries, a union may acquire the status of a "juristic person" (an artificial legal entity), with a mandate to negotiate with employers for the workers it represents. Note This Wikipedia entry deals with the legal concept legal person. In such cases, unions have certain legal rights, most importantly the right to engage in collective bargaining with the employer (or employers) over wages, working hours, and other terms and conditions of employment. Collective bargaining is the process whereby workers organize together to meet converse and compromise upon the work environment with their employers A contract of employment is a category of Contract used in Labour law to attribute right and responsibilities between parties to a bargain The inability of the parties to reach an agreement may lead to industrial action, culminating in either strike action or management lockout, or binding arbitration. Industrial action (UK and Ireland or job action (US refers collectively to any measure taken by Trade unions or other organised labour meant to reduce Productivity Strike action, often simply called a strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal by Employees to perform work. A lockout is a Work stoppage in which an Employer prevents employees from working In extreme cases, violent or illegal activities may develop around these events.

In other circumstances, unions may not have the legal right to represent workers, or the right may be in question. This lack of status can range from non-recognition of a union to political or criminal prosecution of union activists and members, with many cases of violence and deaths having been recorded both historically and contemporarily. ^[10][11]

Unions may also engage in broader political or social struggle. Social Unionism encompasses many unions that use their organizational strength to advocate for social policies and legislation favorable to their members or to workers in general. Social Movement Unionism is a trend of theory and practice in contemporary trade unionism As well, unions in some countries are closely aligned with political parties. A political party is a Political organization that seeks to attain and maintain political power within Government, usually by participating in electoral

Unions are also delineated by the service model and the organizing model. The service model (or servicing model) generally describes an approach whereby unions aim to satisfy members' demands for resolving grievances and securing benefits through methods The organising model, as the term refers to trade unions (and sometimes other social-movement organisations is a broad conception of how those organisations should recruit operate and The service model union focuses more on maintaining worker rights, providing services, and resolving disputes. Alternately, the organizing model typically involves full-time union organizers, who work by building up confidence, strong networks, and leaders within the workforce; and confrontational campaigns involving large numbers of union members. A union organizer is a specific type of Trade union member (often elected or an appointed union official Many unions are a blend of these two philosophies, and the definitions of the models themselves are still debated.

Although their political structure and autonomy varies widely, union leaderships are usually formed through democratic elections. An election is a Decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold formal office

Some research, such as that conducted by the ACIRRT,^[12] argues that unionized workers enjoy better conditions and wages than those who are not unionized.

Shop types

Companies that employ workers with a union generally operate on one of several models:

• A closed shop (US) employs only people who are already union members. In North America a closed shop is a Business or industrial factory in which union membership (often of a specific union and no other is The compulsory hiring hall is an example of a closed shop — in this case the employer must recruit directly from the union. In Organized labor, a hiring hall is an organization usually under the auspices of a labor union, which has the responsibility of furnishing new recruits for employers
• A union shop (US) or a closed shop (UK) employs non-union workers as well, but sets a time limit within which new employees must join a union. In the United States of America, a union shop is a place of Employment where the employer may hire either labor union members or nonmembers but where
• An agency shop requires non-union workers to pay a fee to the union for its services in negotiating their contract. An agency shop is a place of employment where workers must pay union dues whether they are a member of a labor union or not This is sometimes called the Rand formula. In Canadian labour law the Rand formula (also referred to as automatic check-off) is a Workplace situation where the payment of Trade union dues is mandatory In certain situations involving state public employees in the United States, such as California, "fair share laws" make it easy to require these sorts of payments. California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean.
• An open shop does not discriminate based on union membership in employing or keeping workers. In terms of United States labor relations an open shop is a place of employment at which one is not required to join or financially support a labor union Where a union is active, the open shop allows workers to be employed who do not contribute to a union or the collective bargaining process. In the United States, state level right-to-work laws mandate the open shop in some states. Right-to-work laws are Statutes enforced in twenty-two US states mostly in the southern or western U

Diversity of international unions

As labor law varies from country to country, so is the function of unions. For example, in Germany only open shops are legal; that is, all discrimination based on union membership is forbidden. This affects the function and services of the union. In addition, German unions have played a greater role in management decisions through participation in corporate boards and co-determination than have unions in the United States. Co-determination (also codetermination is a practice whereby the employees have a role in management of a company (newsletter/files/BTS012EN_12-15.pdf}.

In Britain a series of laws introduced during the 1980s by Margaret Thatcher's government restricted closed and union shops. Margaret Hilda Thatcher Baroness Thatcher LG, OM, PC, FRS (born 13 October 1925 All agreements requiring a worker to join a union are now illegal. In the United States, the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 outlawed the closed shop, but permitted the union shop unless the state government chose to prohibit it. A US state is any one of the fifty subnational entities of the United States of America that share Sovereignty with the federal government

In addition, unions' relations with political parties vary. In many countries unions are tightly bonded, or even share leadership, with a political party intended to represent the interests of working people. Typically this is a left-wing, socialist, or social democratic party, but many exceptions exist. Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating state or collective ownership and administration of the Means of production and distribution Social democracy is a Political ideology of the left and centre-left In the United States, by contrast, although it is historically aligned with the Democratic Party, the labor movement is by no means monolithic on that point; the International Brotherhood of Teamsters has supported Republican Party candidates on a number of occasions and the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) endorsed Ronald Reagan in 1980. The Democratic Party is one of two major Political parties in the United States, the other being the Republican Party. TemplateInfobox Union for usage-->The International Brotherhood of Teamsters ( IBT) formerly known by the Template talkInfobox Union for usage --> The Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization or PATCO was (However, when PATCO went on strike in violation of their "no strike" contract, President Reagan ordered them back to work. Those who didn't return to the job were fired and replaced, effectively destroying PATCO. ) The AFL-CIO has been against liberalizing abortion, consistent with a Republican position, so as not to alienate its large Catholic constituency. American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, commonly AFL-CIO, is a National trade union center, the largest federation of In Britain the labor movement's relationship with the Labour Party is fraying as party leadership embarks on privatization plans at odds with what unions see as the worker's interests. The Labour Party is a Political party in the United Kingdom. Founded at the start of the 20th century it has been since the 1920s the principal party of the Privatization is the incidence or process of transferring ownership of business from the Public sector (government to the Private sector (business On top of this in the past there as been a group known as the Conservative Trade Unionists or CTU. Conservative Trade Unionists (CTU is an organisation within the British Conservative Party made up of Conservative-supporting Trade unionists Although by 1974 A group formed of people who sympathised with right wing Tory policy but were Trade Unionists.

In Western Europe, professional associations often carry out the functions of a trade union. In these cases, they may be negotiating for white-collar workers, such as physicians, engineers, or teachers. White-collar worker refers to a salaried professional or an educated Worker who performs semi-professional office administrative and sales coordination tasks as opposed to Typically such trade unions refrain from politics or pursue a more ordoliberal politics than their blue-collar counterparts. Ordoliberalism (also called German neoliberalism) is a school of Liberalism emphasizing the need for the state to ensure that the Free market produces results

In Germany the relation between individual employees and employers is considered to be asymmetrical. In consequence, many working conditions are not negotiable due to a strong legal protection of individuals. However, the German flavor or works legislation has as its main objective to create a balance of power between employees organized in unions and employers organized in employers associations. This allows much wider legal boundaries for collective bargaining, compared to the narrow boundaries for individual negotiations. As a condition to obtain the legal status of a trade union, employee associations need to prove that their leverage is strong enough to serve as a counterforce in negotiations with employers. If such an employees association is competing against another union, its leverage may be questioned by unions and then evaluated in a court trial. In Germany only very few professional associations obtained the right to negotiate salaries and working conditions for their members, notably the medical doctors association Marburger Bund and the pilots association Vereinigung Cockpit. The engineers association Verein Deutscher Ingenieure does not strive to act as a union, as it also represents the interests of engineering businesses. Verein Deutscher Ingenieure ( VDI) (English Association of German Engineers is an organization of 126000 Engineers and natural scientists

Finally, the structure of employment laws affects unions' roles and how they carry out their business. In many western European countries wages and benefits are largely set by governmental action. The United States takes a more laissez-faire approach, setting some minimum standards but leaving most workers' wages and benefits to collective bargaining and market forces. Laissez-faire ( pronunciation: French,; English,) is a French phrase literally meaning Let do (“allow to do” Historically, the Republic of Korea has regulated collective bargaining by requiring employers to participate but collective bargaining has been legal only if held in sessions before the lunar new year. South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea and often referred to as Korea ( Korean: 대한민국 tɛː In totalitarian regimes such as Nazi Germany, Trade Unions were outlawed. In the Soviet Union and China, unions have typically been de facto government agencies devoted to smooth and efficient operation of government enterprises.

Criticism

Main article: Opposition to trade unions

Trade unions, historically, have subject to union busting activities from various private companies, as well as political repression from governments of authoritarian regimes, such as Adolf Hitler's Nazi party ^{[13] [14] [15] [16]} and Burma's military dictator, Ne Win. Opposition to trade unions comes from a variety of groups in society and there are many different types of argument on which this opposition is based Union busting is a practice that is undertaken by an employer or their agents to prevent employees from joining a labor union, or to disempower subvert or destroy unions Hi and welcome to Wikipedia! Please understand that this article is frequently vandalized and vandalism is reverted immediately Ne Win (နေဝင်း nè wín 24 May or 14 May 1911 or 10 July 1910 – 5 December 2002; born Shu

Trade unions have been accused of benefiting the insider workers, those having secure jobs, at the cost of the outsider workers, consumers of the goods or services produced, and the shareholders of the unionized business. Those who are likely to be disadvantaged most from unionization are the unemployed, those at risk of unemployment or workers who are unable to get the job they want in a particular line of work. ^[17]

Dr. Charles Baird of California State University East Bay argues that as labor is a commodity, and unions essentially operate by centralizing labor, forming a monopoly on the commodity. California State University East Bay (also known as CSUEB, Cal State East Bay, and formerly known as California State University Hayward) is a campus A commodity is anything for which there is demand but which is supplied without qualitative differentiation across a market In Economics, a monopoly (from Greek monos, alone or single + polein, to sell exists when a specific individual or enterprise has sufficient This monopoly on labor has the same negative effects as any other monopoly. ^[18], of reducing the amount sold (in this case, this means increasing unemployment) raising the price in the short term and decreasing efficiency.

In the United States, the outsourcing of labor to Asia, Latin America, and Africa has been partially driven by increasing costs of union partnership, which gives other countries a comparative advantage in labor, making it more efficient to perform labor-intensive work there. ^[19]

Milton Friedman, Nobel Prize winning economist and advocate of laissez-faire capitalism showed that unionization produces higher wages (for the union members) at the expense of fewer jobs, and that, if some industries are unionized while others are not, wages will decline in non-unionized industries. Milton Friedman (July 31 1912 November 16 2006 was an American Nobel Laureate Economist and Public intellectual. The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, officially named The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel (Sveriges riksbanks pris i ekonomisk An economist is an expert in the Social science of Economics. Laissez-faire ( pronunciation: French,; English,) is a French phrase literally meaning Let do (“allow to do” Capitalism is the Economic system in which the Means of production are owned by private Persons and operated for Profit and where

In some cases, unions are regarded as a form of legalized conspiracy and extortion. A civil conspiracy or Collusion is an agreement between two or more parties to deprive a third party of legal rights or deceive a third party to obtain an illegal objective Extortion, outwresting, or exaction is a criminal offense, which occurs when a person Unlawfully obtains either money property or services American racketeering statutes still include an exemption for union activity. A racket is an illegal business usually run as part of Organized crime.

Unions are sometimes accused of holding society to ransom by taking strike actions that result in the disruption of public services. ^[20][21]

By causing wage increases above the market rate, unions increase the cost to businesses, causing them to raise their prices, leading to a general increase in the price level. In economics inflation or price inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services over a period of time ^[22]

Trade unions worldwide and by region and country

Worldwide and international cooperation

Unionization in the world

Labour force in 2006

The largest organization of trade union members in the world is the Brussels-based International Trade Union Confederation, which today has approximately 309 affiliated organizations in 156 countries and territories, with a combined membership of 166 million. Brussels (Bruxelles pronounced; Brussel pronounced) officially the Brussels Capital-Region, is Inaugural Congress The founding and first congress of the ITUC was held November 1 - 3 2006 in Vienna Other global trade union organizations include the World Federation of Trade Unions. TemplateInfobox Union for usage -->The World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU was established in the wake of the Second

National and regional trade unions organizing in specific industry sectors or occupational groups also form global union federations, such as Union Network International and the International Federation of Journalists. A global union federation is an international federation of national and regional Trade unions organising in specific Industry sectors or occupational Template talkInfobox Union for usage --> UNI Global Union ( UNI) is a Global union federation for Template talkInfobox Union for usage --> International Federation of Journalists, IFJ, is Global union

Union publications

Several sources of current news exist about the trade union movement in the world. These include LabourStart and the official website of the international trade union movement Global Unions. LabourStart is the online news service of the international Trade union movement Global Unions is a website which is jointly owned and managed by the International Trade Union Confederation, ITUC the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD

Another source of labor news is the Workers Independent News, a news organization providing radio articles to independent and syndicated radio shows.

Labor Notes is the largest circulation cross-union publication remaining in the United States. Labor Notes is a non-profit organization and network for Rank-and-file union members and grassroots labor activists It reports news and analysis about labor activity or problems facing the labor movement.

See also

• List of labor unions

General

• Eight hour day
• Anarcho-syndicalism
• Labor aristocracy
• New Unionism
• Solidarity
• Strike action
• Salting
• Landrum-Griffin Act
• Syndicalism
• Workers Memorial Day
• Labour Day
• Hazards Campaign
• Opposition to trade unions
• Union busting and The Burke Group

Types of unions

• Craft union
• Directly Affiliated Local Union (DALU)
• General union
• Industrial union
• Rank-and-File Union
• Trades council
• Trades Hall
• Union federation

Union federation

• AFL-CIO
• Change to Win Federation
• Labor federation competition in the U.S.
• International Trade Union Confederation
• International Labor Rights Fund

Notes

Further materials

Films

• The 2000 film Bread and Roses by British director Ken Loach depicted the struggle of cleaners in Los Angeles to fight for better pay, and working conditions, and the right to join a union. Bread and Roses is a 2000 Film directed by Ken Loach, starring Adrien Brody. Kenneth Loach (born 17 June 1936) known as Ken Loach, is an English television and Film director. A cleaner is a type of industrial or Domestic worker who cleans homes or offices for Payment.
• The 1985 documentary film Final Offer by Sturla Gunnarsson and Robert Collision shows the 1984 union contract negotiations with General Motors. Final Offer is a Canadian film documenting the 1984 contract negotiations between the United Auto Workers Union (UAW and GM. General Motors Corporation ( GM) ( is a multinational automobile manufacturer founded in 1908 and headquartered in the United States.
• The 1979 film Norma Rae, directed by Martin Ritt, is based on the true story of Crystal Lee Jordan's successful attempt to unionize her textile factory. Norma Rae is a 1979 film which tells the story of a woman from a small town in the Southern United States who becomes involved in the labor union Martin Ritt ( March 2, 1914 &ndash December 8, 1990) was an American director, Actor, and Playwright
• Other documentaries: Made in L. A. (2007); American Standoff (2002); The Fight in the Fields (1997); Harlan County USA (1976); The Inheritance' (1964); With Babies and Banners: Story of the Women's Emergency Brigade (1959);
• Other dramatizations: 10,000 Black Men Named George (2002); Matewan (1987); American Playhouse--"The Killing Floor"(1985); Salt of the Earth (1954); The Grapes of Wrath (1940); Black Fury (1935);

Books

• The Government of British Trade Unions: A study of Apathy and the Democratic Process in the Transport and General Worker Union by Joseph Goldstein"^[1]
• The Early English Trade Unions: Documents from Home Office Papers in the Public Record Office by A Aspinall ^[2]
• Magnificent Journey: The Rise of the Trade Unions, by Francis Williams ^[3]
• Trade Unions by Allan Flanders ^[4]
• Trade Union Government and Administration in Great Britain by B C Roberts ^[5]
• Union Power: The Growth and Challenge in Perspective by Claud Cockburn ^[6]
• Directory of Employer's Associations, Trade Unions, Joint Organisations & c - No author and produced in paperback ^[7]
• The History of the TUC (Trades Union Congress) 1868-1968: A pictorial Survey of a Social Revolution - Illustrated with Contemporary Prints, Documents and Photographs edited by Lionel Birch ^[8]
• Clarke, T. The Trades Union Congress (TUC is a national trade union centre, a federation of Trade unions in the United Kingdom, representing the majority of trade ; Clements, L. (1978). Trade Unions under Capitalism. Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Humanities Press. ISBN 0-391-00728-9.  

External links

International

• Labour Start international trade union news service
• New Unionism network

Australia

• Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU)- Australian Council of Trade Unions

Europe

• Trade union membership 1993-2003 - European Industrial Relations Observatory report on membership trends in 26 European countries
• Trade Union Ancestors - Listing of 5,000 UK trade unions with histories of main organizations, trade union "family trees" and details of union membership and strikes since 1900.
• TUC History online - History of the British union movement
• Trade EU - European Trade Directory

United States

• Labor rights in the USA
• Labor Notes magazine

General

• New analysis of economic data shows that unionization could maximize productivity