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"A Trade Union (Labour union) ... is a
continuous association of
wage-earners for the purpose of maintaining or improving the
conditions of their
employment."[1]
Over the last three hundred years, trade unions
have developed into a number of forms, influenced by differing
political and economic regimes. 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.
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 recognised by employers, they may
negotiate with employers over
wages and working conditions.
-
Industrial action: Trade unions may organize
strikes or resistance to
lockouts in furtherance of particular goals.
-
Political activity: Trade unions may
promote legislation favourable 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.
History
Beginning in the eighteenth century, much of
Western society (with most changes occurring earliest in
Britain) witnessed a transformation from an agrarian culture
with craft-based production to a culture shaped by the first
industrial revolution. Some of the changes brought on by
this new order, such as new work methods and downward pressure
on traditional wage structures,[2]
sparked rising alarm in the
crafts and
guilds of the time, who feared encroachment on their
established jobs.
Additionally, 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.
This pool of unskilled and semi-skilled labour spontaneously
organised 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.
[3] 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. They also facilitated mobility
by providing accommodation for guild members travelling in
search of work. Guilds exhibited some aspects of the modern
trade union, but also some aspects of
professional associations and modern corporations.
Additionally, guilds, like some craft unions
today, were highly restrictive in their membership and only
included artisans who practiced a specific trade. Many modern
labour unions tend to be expansionistic, and frequently seek to
incorporate widely disparate kinds of workers to increase the
leverage of the union as a whole. A labour union in 2006 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."
[1] A modern definition by the Australian Bureau of
Statistics states that a trade union is "an organisation
consisting predominantly of employees, the principal activities
of which include the negotiation of rates of pay and conditions
of employment for its members."
[4]
Yet historian R.A. Leeson, in United we Stand
(1971), said:
"Two
conflicting views of the trade-union movement strove for
ascendancy in the nineteenth century: one the
defensive-restrictive guild-craft tradition passed down through
journeymen's clubs and
friendly societies,...the other the aggressive-expansionist
drive to unite all 'labouring men and women' for a 'different
order of things'..."
Recent historical research by Dr
Bob James in Craft, Trade or Mystery (2001) puts
forward that trade unions are part of a broader movement of
benefit societies, which includes medieval
guilds,
Freemasons,
Oddfellows,
friendly societies and other
Fraternal organisations.
The
18th century
economist
Adam Smith noted the imbalance in the rights of workers in
regards to owners (or "masters"). In
The Wealth of Nations,
Book I, chapter 8, Smith wrote:
We
rarely hear, it has been said, of the combinations of masters,
though frequently of those of workmen. But whoever imagines,
upon this account, that masters rarely combine, is as ignorant
of the world as of the subject. Masters are always and
everywhere in a sort of tacit, but constant and uniform
combination, not to raise the wages of labour above their actual
rate...
[When
workers combine,] masters... never cease to call aloud for the
assistance of the civil magistrate, and the rigorous execution
of those laws which have been enacted with so much severity
against the combinations of servants, labourers, and journeymen.
As indicated in the preceding quotation, unions
were illegal for many years in most countries. There were severe
penalties for attempting to organise unions, up to and including
execution. Despite this, unions were formed and began to acquire
political power, eventually resulting in a body of labour law
which not only legalised organising efforts, but codified the
relationship between employers and those employees organised
into unions. Even after the legitimisation of trade unions there
was opposition, as the case of the
Tolpuddle Martyrs shows.
Many consider it an issue of fairness that
workers be allowed to pool their resources in a special legal
entity in a similar way to the pooling of capital resources in
the form of
corporations.
The right to join a trade union is mentioned in
article 23, subsection 4 of the
UDHR, which also states in article 20, subsection 2. that
"No one may be compelled to belong to an association".
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. Similar allegations can be levelled if
an employer
discriminates based on trade union membership. Attempts by
an employer, often with the help of outside agencies, to prevent
union membership amongst their staff is known as
union busting.
19th Century Unionism
In
France,
Germany and other European countries, socialist parties and
anarchists played a prominent role in forming and building up
trade unions, especially from the 1870s onwards. 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.
Unions in the world
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Unions today
Structure and
politics
Union structures, politics, and legal status vary greatly from
country to country. For specific country details
see below.
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). These unions are often divided into "locals",
and united in national
federations. These federations themselves will affiliate
with
Internationals, such as the
International Trade Union Confederation.
In many countries, a union may acquire the
status of a
legal entity, with a mandate to negotiate with employers for
the workers it represents. In such cases, unions have certain
legal rights, most importantly the right to negotiate
collectively with the employer (or employers) over wages,
working hours and other
terms and conditions of employment. The inability of both
parties to reach an agreement may lead to
industrial action, culminating in either
strike action or management
lockout. 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 in the current day[5][6].
Unions may also engage in broader political or
social struggle.
Social Unionism encompasses many unions which use their
organisational strength to advocate for social policies and
legislation favourable to their members or to workers in
general. As well, unions in some countries are closely aligned
with
political parties.
Unions are also delineated by the
service model and the
organising model. The service model union focuses more on
maintaining worker rights, providing services, and resolving
disputes. Alternately, the organising model typically involves
full-time organisers, who work by building up confidence, strong
networks and leaders within the workforce; and confrontational
campaigns involving large numbers of union members. 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.
Some research, such as that conducted by the
Australian Centre for Industrial Relations Research and Training
(ACIRRT),[7]
argues that unionised workers enjoy better conditions and wages
than those who are not unionised.
Shop types
Companies that employ workers with a union
generally operate on one of several models:
-
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.
-
An
agency shop requires non-union workers to pay a fee
to the union for its services in negotiating their contract.
This is sometimes called the
Rand formula. In certain situations involving state
government employees in the United States, such as for
example
California, fair share laws make it easy to
require these sorts of payments.
-
An
open shop does not discriminate based on union
membership in employing or keeping workers. Where a union is
active, the open shop allows workers to be employed who
benefit from, but do not contribute to, a union or the
collective bargaining process. In the United States, "Right
To Work" laws mandate the open shop on the state level.
In Britain a series of laws were introduced
during the 1980s by
Margaret Thatcher's government to restrict closed and union
shops. All agreements requiring a worker to join a union are now
illegal. The
Taft-Hartley Act outlawed the closed shop in the United
States in 1947, but permits the union shop in most states.
Diversity of
international unions
As labour law is very diverse in different
countries, so is the function of unions. For instance, 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. (newsletter/files/BTS012EN_12-15.pdf}.
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. In the
United States, by contrast, although it is historically aligned
with the
Democratic Party, the labour 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 following year, Reagan effectively destroyed
PATCO, breaking a strike by bringing in permanent replacement
workers). The
AFL-CIO has been against liberalising abortion, consistent
with a Republican position, so as not to alienate its large
Catholic constituency. In Britain the labour movement's
relationship with the
Labour Party is fraying as party leadership embarks on
privatisation plans at odds with what some perceive as
workers' interests.
In Western Europe, professional associations
often carry out the functions of a trade union. Notable cases of
these are the German
Verein deutscher Ingenieure. In these cases, they may be
negotiating for white collar workers, such as physicians,
engineers or teachers. Typically such trade unions refrain from
politics or pursue markedly more right-wing politics than their
blue-collar counterparts[citation needed].
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. 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. In totalitarian regimes such as Nazi-Germany
and the Soviet Union, unions have typically been de facto
government agencies devoted to smooth and efficient operation of
enterprises.
Trade unions
worldwide and by region and country
Unionisation in the world
Worldwide and
international cooperation
The largest organisation of trade union members
in the world is the Brussels-based
International Trade Union Confederation, which today has
approx. 309 affiliated organisations in 156 countries and
territories, with a combined membership of 166 million. Other
global trade union organisations include the
World Federation of Trade Unions.
National and regional trade unions organising in
specific industry sectors or occupational groups also form
global union federations, such as
Union Network International and the
International Federation of Journalists.
Trade unions in
Africa
Trade unions in
Burkina Faso
Main article:
Trade unions in Burkina Faso
Trade unions in Niger
Main article:
Trade unions in Niger
Trade unions in Niger are free to engage in regular unionist
activities, with constitutionally protected provisions for
forming and joining trade unions. However, with 95% the working
population engaged in subsistence activities,[8]
the numbers of trade union members are low.
Trade unions in South
Africa
Main article:
Trade unions in South Africa
Trade unions in South Africa have a history
dating back to the 1880s. From the beginning unions could be
viewed as a reflection of the racial disunity of the country,
with the earliest unions being predominantly for
white workers.[8]
Through the turbulent years of
apartheid trade unions played an important part in
developing political and economic resistance, and eventually
were one of the driving forces in realising the transition to an
inclusive democratic government.
Today trade unions are still an important force
in
South Africa, with 3.1 million members representing 25% of
the formal work force.[9]
The
Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) is the
largest of the three major trade union centres, with a
membership of 1.8 million, and is part of the
Tripartite alliance with the ruling
African National Congress (ANC) and the
South African Communist Party (SACP). The second largest
trade union centre is the
Federation of Unions of South Africa (FEDUSA), with a
membership of 500 000 and 23 affiliated trade unions.
Trade unions in
America
Labor unions in the
United States
Main article:
Labor unions in the United States
Labor unions in the United States today function
as
legally recognized representatives of workers in numerous
industries, but in recent years have seen their greatest growth
among service sector and public sector workers. Activity by
labor unions in the United States today centers on
collective bargaining over wages, benefits, and working
conditions for their membership and on representing their
members if management attempts to violate contract provisions.
Although down from the peak membership they achieved in the
third quarter of the twentieth century, American unions also
remain an important political factor, both through mobilization
of their own memberships and through coalitions with like-minded
activist organizations around issues such as immigrant rights,
trade policy, health care, and
living wage campaigns.
Labor unions in the past have been infiltrated
by members of
organized crime, such as the
Mafia. Organized crime had been active in some
Teamster locals, particularly in the garment industry in
New York City, as early as the
1920s.
Labor racketeers made inroads in other cities, such as
Chicago,
Cleveland,
Kansas City and
Detroit, in the
1930s.
Jimmy Hoffa and other Teamster leaders made strategic
alliances with organized crime, in deals that benefited both the
Mafia and its associates, who obtained
sweetheart contracts, and the union leaders, who received
kickbacks and other forms of assistance.
Jimmy Hoffa would later mysteriously disappear. Hoffa's son,
James P. Hoffa, is the current president of the Teamsters.
For more information, refer to
Teamsters: Organized crime's influence. The US labor
movement has gone through major changes in the last year with
the departure from the
AFL-CIO of five major unions led by the
Service Employees International Union into the
Change to Win Federation. The face of the labor movement is
also changing. For the last twenty years women have made up the
majority of new workers organized and union growth has been
significantly higher among workers of color and immigrant
workers than among white male workers.[10]
Asia and Oceania
Afghanistan
Main article:
Trade unions in Afghanistan
Trade unions in Afghanistan have a brief and turbulent
history, beginning in
1967 and effectively ending with the
Islamic state of the
Mujahideen. There has been no reported trade union activity
since the military intervention and removal of the
Taliban regime.
Afghanistan has not ratified the
ILO conventions; the
Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise
Convention, 1948 and the
Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949.
Australia
Main article:
Australian labour movement
The
Australian labour movement has a long history of
craft, trade and
industrial unionism While unions have sometimes been very
strong,
as of 2005 they are relatively weak and in decline, due in
part to the actions of Australian politicians, including Prime
Minister
John Howard and his
Liberal government which introduced the
Workplace Relations Act 1996; although the decline in
membership had begun before Howard came into power. In 2005 the
Federal Government brought in
WorkChoices which many Australian Unions claimed would
reduce minimum wage, the powers of the
Australian Industrial Relations Commission and the ability
of Australian Unions to organise. The full extent of this
legislation has yet to be seen, as it only became effective in
March 2006. However, the movement has mounted a strong campaign
against the changes and have activated large levels of community
support. There are reports among unions such as the
Transport Workers Union that membership levels have
increased.
Malaysia
Main article:
Trade Unions in Malaysia
Pakistan
Main article:
Trade Unions in Pakistan
Qatar
Main article:
Trade unions in Qatar
Trade unions in
Europe
The
European Trade Union Confederation was set up in 1973 to
promote the interests of working people at European level and to
represent them in the EU institutions. It is recognised by the
European Union, by the Council of Europe and by EFTA as the only
representative cross-sectoral trade union organisation at
European level.
Some countries such as
Belgium,
Ireland,
Sweden,
Finland, and the other
Nordic countries have strong, centralised unions, where
every type of industry has a specific union, which are then
gathered in large national union confederations. Usually there
are at least two national union confederations, one for
academically educated and one for branches with lower education
level. The largest Swedish union
confederation is
Landsorganisationen, or LO. The LO has almost two
million members, which is more than a fifth of Sweden's
population. Finland's equivalent is
SAK, the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions, with
about one million members out of the country's 5.2 million
inhabitants. In addition, there are two other Finnish union
confederations for more educated workers with combined
membership of circa one million.
In comparison,
France is thought to have one of the lowest union densities
in Europe, with only about 10% of the workers inside unions.
Generally, several unions are represented inside large companies
or administrations, normally with one from each of the main
national confederation of unions and possibly independent
unions. Union membership, however, tends to be concentrated in
some specific areas, especially the public sector. Unions in
some sectors, such as public transportation (e.g.
SNCF and
RATP) are likely to enter well-publicised strikes.
Early trade unions in
the United Kingdom
Main article:
Trade unions in the United Kingdom
Unions in Britain were subject to often severe
repression until
1824, but were already widespread in cities such as
London. Workplace militancy had also manifested itself as
Luddism and had been prominent in struggles such as the
1820 Rising in
Scotland where 60,000 workers went on a
general strike, which was soon crushed. From
1830 on, attempts were made to set up national
general unions, most notably Robert Owen's
Grand National Consolidated Trades Union in
1834, which attracted a range of socialists from Owenites to
revolutionaries. That organisation played a part in the protests
after the
Tolpuddle Martyrs' case, but soon collapsed.
In the later 1830s and 1840s, trade unionism was
overshadowed, to some extent, by political activity. Of
particular importance was
Chartism, the aims of which were supported by most
socialists, although none appear to have played leading roles.
More permanent trade unions were established
from the
1850s, better resourced but often less radical. The
London Trades Council was founded in
1860, and the
Sheffield Outrages spurred the establishment of the
Trades Union Congress in
1868. The legal status of trade unions in the United Kingdom
was established by a
Royal Commission in 1867, which agreed that the
establishment of the organizations was to the advantage of both
employers and employees. Legalized in 1871.
The strongest unions of the mid-Victorian period
were unions of skilled workers such as the
Amalgamated Society of Engineers. Trade unionism amongst
semi-skilled and unskilled workers made little progress until
the emergence of the
New Unions in the late 1880s. Unions played a prominent role
in the creation of the Labour Representation Committee which
effectively formed the basis for today's
Labour Party, which still has extensive links with the Trade
Union Movement in Britain.
The years 1910-14 witnessed serious industrial
unrest and an enormous increase in trade union membership which
affected all industries, though to differing extents. The First
World War resulted in a further increase in union membership, as
well as widespread recognition of unions and their increased
involvement in management.
Impact of Unions
Union supporters often state that the labour
movement brought an end to
child labor practices, improved
worker safety, increased wages for both union and non-union
workers, raised the entire society's
standard of living, reduced the hours in a work week, fought
for and won public education for children, and brought a host of
other benefits to working class families[citation needed].
This is considered particularly important for
groups who are more likely to suffer "labour-market
discrimination." On average, women in Britain earn 20% less than
men for the same work but women who are union members earn 24%
more than those who are not
[1]. In the
People's Republic of China, the pay gap between men and
women has actually increased in recent years despite the booming
economy
[2].
Criticism
Main article:
Opposition to trade unions
Trade unions are often accused of benefiting the
insider workers, those having secure jobs and high
productivity, at the cost of the outsider workers,
consumers of the goods or services produced, and the
shareholders of the unionised business. The ones that are likely
to lose the most from a trade union are those who are unemployed
or at the risk of unemployment or who are not able to get the
job that they want in a particular area of work
[11]
Critics sometimes claim, viewing labor as a
commodity, unions essentially operate by cartelizing labor.[12]
The higher cost of labor in union-employing
businesses increases overhead and raises the price of the goods
and services those companies offer. This also affects the
overhead expenses of other businesses who rely on
union-employing businesses for goods and services, raising the
price they must offer to the customer as well.
The higher cost offered by union-employing
companies leaves them with a competitive disadvantage, which has
in certain cases[citation needed]
led to bribery, extortion and other illegal tactics to secure
contracts with unions where they would otherwise not be able to
compete.
The competitive disadvantage felt by
union-employing businesses often leads to a search for cheaper
labor. In the United States, the outsourcing of labor to India,
China, Mexico and Africa has been partially driven by increasing
costs of union partnership.
Union strikes have significant adverse effects,
such as the confusion resulting at schools when teachers' unions
strike and the paralysis of an entire city, or even country, as
strikers such as traffic controllers refuse to work, or farmers
block roads.
Critics also contend that unionized workers may
feel protected in their employment to the extent that they
produce poor-quality goods[citation needed],
refuse to perform tasks outside their prescribed duties[citation needed],
and work fewer hours or days than non-protected workers[citation needed].
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.
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--reports news and
analysis about labor activity or problems facing the labor
movement.
See also
This article has a
Translation summary:
Article Summary [hide]
A Trade union is an
organization which has the stated purpose to promote and protect
the interests of a collection of
workers.
Often trade unions are the
workers' representative when negotiating wages or working
conditions with employers and/or governments.
Trade unions are unavoidably
political, and often attract both passionate support, and
heated disagreement.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Trade unions
Union related topics
Types of Unions
Major Unions
Related Books and
Films
-
1985 documentary film: 'Final
Offer' by Sturla Gunnarsson & Robert Collision. It shows
the 1984 union contract negotiations with
General Motors. It's an interesting look at the hard
world of business negotiations and union politics (it's
from the 1980s but still relevant today).
-
Norma Rae, Director:
Martin Ritt, USA 1979 – A film based on the true story
of Crystal Lee Jordan's successful attempt to unionize her
Southern USA textile factory.
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