Portal:Organized Labour

Introduction

The labour movement is the collective organisation of working people to further their shared political and economic interests. It consists of the trade union or labour union movement, as well as political parties of labour. It can be considered an instance of class conflict.

In trade unions, workers campaign for higher wages, better working conditions and fair treatment from their employers, and through the implementation of labour laws, from their governments. They do this through collective bargaining, sectoral bargaining, and when needed, strike action. In some countries, co-determination gives representatives of workers seats on the board of directors of their employers.

Political parties representing the interests of workers campaign for labour rights, social security and the welfare state. They are usually called a labour party (in English-speaking countries), a social democratic party (in Germanic and Slavic countries), a socialist party (in Romance countries), or sometimes a workers' party.
Though historically less prominent, the cooperative movement campaigns to replace capitalist ownership of the economy with worker cooperatives, consumer cooperatives, and other types of cooperative ownership. This is related to the concept of economic democracy.

The labour movement developed as a response to capitalism and the Industrial Revolution of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, at about the same time as socialism. The early goals of the movement were the right to unionise, the right to vote, democracy and the 40-hour week. As these were achieved in many of the advanced economies of western Europe and north America in the early decades of the 20th century, the labour movement expanded to issues of welfare and social insurance, wealth distribution and income distribution, public services like health care and education, social housing and common ownership. (Full article...)

Selected article

Anti-union violence is physical force intended to harm union officials, union organizers, union members, union sympathizers, or their families. It is most commonly used either during union organizing efforts, or during strikes. The aim most often is to prevent a union from forming, to destroy an existing union, or to reduce the effectiveness of a union or a particular strike action. If strikers prevent people or goods to enter or leave a workplace, violence may be used to allow people and goods to pass the picket line.

Violence against unions may be isolated, or may occur as part of a campaign that includes spying, intimidation, impersonation, disinformation, and sabotage. Violence in labor disputes may be the result of unreasonable polarization, or miscalculation. It may be willful and provoked, or senseless and tragic. On some occasions, violence in labor disputes may be purposeful and calculated, for example the hiring and deployment of goon squads to assault strikers.

Incidents of violence during periods of labor unrest are sometimes perceived differently by different parties. It is sometimes a challenge to ascertain the truth about labor-related violence, and incidents of violence committed by, or in the name of, unions or union workers have occurred as well. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

June in Labor History

Significant dates in labour history.

June 01 - Matthew Woll died; the United Farm Workers conducted its first strike in 1966 in Texas; the Cananea strike began in 1906 in Mexico
June 02 - During the 1952 steel strike, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer; the Child Labor Amendment was adopted by the U.S. Congress; Charles Moyer died
June 03 - The U.S. Supreme Court decided Hammer v. Dagenhart, outlawing child labor laws; Victor G. Reuther died; Emmanuel Christopher Loblack died
June 04 - The Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers affiliated with the CIO; Lou Cunningham was born
June 05 - Teamsters for a Democratic Union was formed; the U.S. Supreme Court decided Hague v. CIO; the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act became law
June 06 - Don Farrell was born; CUPE 3902 was founded; N. M. Perera was born; Thomas Jackson died
June 07 - The Steel Workers Organizing Committee was founded; the Matignon Agreements ended a general strike in 1936 in France; John Willcock died
June 08 - Robert Lee Hill was born; Emil Rieve was born; Percy Wells was born
June 09 - R. J. Thomas was born
June 10 - The U.S. Supreme Court decided Anderson v. Mt. Clemens Pottery Co.; Frank Hayes died
June 11 - John L. Lewis died; the Federación Sindical de Trabajadores Mineros de Bolivia was founded; José Bové was born
June 12 - The 1981 Major League Baseball strike began in the U.S. and Canada; Philip Vera Cruz died
June 13 - Israel Kugler was born; Tony Mazzocchi was born
June 14 - 1911 Liverpool general transport strike began in the U.K.; government troops triggered the 2006 Oaxaca protests in Mexico
June 15 - The Metal Trades Department, AFL–CIO was founded
June 16 - Dave Beck was born
June 18 - Battle of Ballantyne Pier occurred in Canada in 1935; the Battle of Orgreave occurred in 1984 in the U.K.
June 19 - Nelson Cruikshank died; John W. Brown died; Tanong Po-arn disappeared
June 20 - The American Railway Union was founded; Jim Bacon died; Evelyn Dubrow died; Alphonse Verville died
June 21 - Nelson Cruikshank was born; the Herrin massacre occurred in 1922 in the U.S.; the U.S. Supreme Court decided United States v. Congress of Industrial Organizations; the "Molly Maguires" were hanged in the U.S.; Frank Drozak died
June 22 - Riots occurred during the Grunwick dispute in 1976 in the U.K.; Paul Hall died; the U.S. Supreme Court decided Burlington Northern Railway v. White; the Sheffield Trades and Labour Council was founded; John Marius Trana was born
June 23 - The Taft–Hartley Act became law in the U.S.
June 24 - Terence V. Powderly died, Agnes Nestor was born
June 25 - Winnipeg general strike of 1919 ended; the Smith–Connally Act became law in the U.S.
June 26 - Timothy D. Murphy died; the Alliance of Concerned Teachers was formed; John W. Brown died; Emma Miller was born
June 27 - The 1949 Australian coal strike began; the Industrial Workers of the World was founded; the Bureau of Labor Statistics was formed in the U.S.
June 28 - President Grover Cleveland signed legislation establishing Labor Day in the U.S.; Alfred Miodowicz was born; Vere Bird died
June 29 - The National Labor Relations Board was created; a lockout triggered the Homestead Strike; the merger of the blacksmiths and boilermakers formed the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers; Edward J. Carlough died; the U.S. Supreme Court decided Communications Workers of America v. Beck
June 30 - Former labor union official Tomiichi Murayama became Prime Minister of Japan

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

More Did you know (auto-generated)

... that the execution of Burkinabé trade union leader Soumane Touré was prevented by the intervention of his childhood friend, then-president Thomas Sankara?
... that M. Farooqui, who had been expelled from his studies for having organized a strike in 1940, received his Delhi University degree in a special convocation in 1989?
... that when journalist and trade unionist Nisn Pups was released from jail, the Communist Party of Lithuania instructed him to change his name?
... that a strike by uranium miners in 1974 in Ontario led to the creation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act?
... that on March 2, 2022, 86 percent of workers in New York City's REI store voted in favor of the outdoor recreation retailer's first ever trade union, REI Union SoHo?
... that the Russian airstrike on Kyiv TV Tower (video featured) killed Yevhenii Sakun, one of at least 14 civilian journalists killed in the line of duty during the Russo-Ukrainian War?

Related Portals

Selected image

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

Selected Quote

"Size alone I don't think is the only measurement for a labor union. It's vitality. Your resources are more limited, but it's how you spend those resources. If you spend them on communications and organization and political activity, you can be a very viable force with a much smaller number than we had in the past."

— Douglas Fraser

Did you know

...that David Brody is credited with co-founding the field of "new labor history"?
...that unions sometimes permit local or regional variations in master contracts in order to meet special economic, competitive, or other needs of employers?
... that William E. Simkin, longest-serving head of the U.S. Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, first got involved in arbitration when a professor asked him to assist with a hosiery industry dispute?

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