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, safe working conditions 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

"Solidarity Forever" is a trade union anthem written in 1915 by Ralph Chaplin promoting the use of solidarity amongst workers through unions. It is sung to the tune of "John Brown's Body" and "The Battle Hymn of the Republic". Although it was written as a song for the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), other union movements, such as the AFL–CIO, have adopted the song as their own. The song has been performed by musicians such as Utah Phillips, Pete Seeger, and John Darnielle. It was redone by Emcee Lynx and The Nightwatchman. It is still commonly sung at union meetings and rallies in the United States, Australia, and Canada, and has also been sung at conferences of the Australian Labor Party and the Canadian New Democratic Party. This may have also inspired the hymn of the consumer cooperative movement, "The Battle Hymn of Cooperation", which is sung to the same tune.

It has been translated into several other languages, including French, German, Polish, Spanish, Swahili and Yiddish. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

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 the 56-foot-tall (17 m) monument to the theologian Samuel Rutherford near his parish church in Anwoth was badly damaged by a lightning strike five years after its construction?
... that members of the Trade Union Opposition Federation stormed the Copenhagen Stock Exchange?
... that the opening day of a California TV station was affected by a strike when workers refused to cross a two-man picket line?
... that when journalist and trade unionist Nisn Pups was released from jail, the Communist Party of Lithuania instructed him to change his name?
... that in 1977, Appalachian folk singer Phyllis Boyens performed at a Christmas benefit concert to support Kentucky coal miners who had been on strike for 17 months?
... that John Sterling, Anthony Harrison and Chuck Compton were all signed by the Green Bay Packers as replacement players because of a players' strike during the 1987 NFL season?

Related Portals

Selected image

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

Selected Quote

There is nothing fairer than workmen having unions of their mutual benefit."

— Will Rogers

Did you know

...that despite the relatively low level of academic output by Professor Gary Chaison, he is widely cited in the American mass media?
...that New Australia was a utopian settlement founded in Paraguay in 1893 by former members of the Australian labour movement?
...that labor leader Victor Kamber created playing cards with public figures in 1968 and the "Rappin' Ronnie" music video depicting a rapping Ronald Reagan in 1984?

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