Portal:Organized Labour

Introduction

Image created by Walter Crane to celebrate International Workers' Day (May Day, 1 May), 1889. The image depicts workers from the five populated continents (Africa, Asia, Americas, Australia and Europe) in unity underneath an angel representing freedom, fraternity and equality.

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...)

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The United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, commonly known as the United Steelworkers (USW), is a general trade union with members across North America. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, the United Steelworkers represents workers in Canada, the Caribbean, and the United States. The United Steelworkers represent workers in a diverse range of industries, including primary and fabricated metals, paper, chemicals, glass, rubber, heavy-duty conveyor belting, tires, transportation, utilities, container industries, pharmaceuticals, call centers, museums, and health care.

The United Steelworkers is currently affiliated with the AFL–CIO in the United States and the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) in Canada as well as several international union federations. On July 2, 2008, the United Steelworkers signed an agreement to merge with the United Kingdom and Ireland–based union Unite to form a new global union entity called Workers Uniting.

As of 2023, the International President of the United Steelworkers is David McCall, who was installed as president after the death of Tom Conway. (Full article...)

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July in Labor History

Significant dates in labour history.

July 01 - The Great Railroad Strike of 1922 began in the U.S.; the Regina Riot occurred during the On-to-Ottawa Trek in Canada in 1935; Lee Pressman was born; P. H. McCarthy died; the Textile, Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia was founded; the Westmoreland County coal strike of 1910–11 ended in the U.S.
July 02 - William J. McCarthy was born; Edward Ikem Okeke died; the U.S. Supreme Court decided Brown v. Hotel and Restaurant Employees
July 03 - The United States Army began suppression of the American Railway Union during the Pullman Strike in 1894
July 04 - The Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention came into force
July 05 - "Bloody Thursday" occurred during the 1934 West Coast waterfront strike in the U.S.
July 06 - Peter J. McGuire was born; the Homestead Strike culminated with a battle between Pinkerton agents and striking workers
July 07 - Eugene V. Debs was arrested during the Pullman Strike in 1894; the 1998 Puerto Rican general strike began
July 08 - Jesse Simons died
July 09 - Jackie Presser died; the Transport Workers Union of America won the "Squeegee Strike" at the IRT in 1935
July 10 - Sidney Hillman died; George W. Taylor was born; Donald Richberg was born
July 11 - Frank Duffy died; Sigurd Lucassen was born
July 12 - The British Columbia Teachers' Federation was founded; Arnold Miller died; Clara Lemlich died; Edgar Nixon was born; the Bisbee Deportation occurred in the U.S. in 1917
July 13 - The U.S. Steel recognition strike of 1901 began
July 14 - The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 began in the U.S.
July 15 - The Steel strike of 1959 began in the U.S.; Set Persson died; Michael Costa was born; the Vancouver Police Union was founded
July 16 - Frank Rudolph Crosswaith was born
July 17 - The Cape Breton coal strike of 1981 began in Canada
July 18 - William J. McCarthy defeated Weldon Mathis as Teamsters president in 1988; Robert Georgine was born; the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949, one of the two primary labour conventions of the ILO, came into force
July 19 - The Hatch Act of 1939 was extended to cover state and local government workers in the U.S.; Benjamin Gitlow died; Rhoda Williams died
July 20 - The Newsboys' strike of 1899 began
July 22 - Patrick J. Campbell was born; the 2004–05 NHL lockout ended in the U.S. and Canada
July 23 - Emma Tenayuca died
July 24 - The 1952 steel strike ended in the U.S.; Ben Gold died; the Alliance for Labor Action is formed
July 25 - Farrell Dobbs was born; the Service Employees International Union and the Teamsters announced their intention to leave the AFL–CIO; labor attorney Arthur Goldberg resigned as Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court
July 26 - Elias Motsoaledi was born; William Trenwith died; the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, banning workplace discrimination based on disability, became law
July 27 - The Polish film Man of Iron was released in 1981
July 28 - Harry Bridges was born; the 1913 Paterson silk strike ended in the U.S.; Florence Cohen was born
July 29 - The Sailors' Union of the Pacific was formed; the United Food and Commercial Workers disaffiliated from the AFL–CIO
July 30 - Jimmy Hoffa disappeared in 1975; the Arizona copper mine strike of 1983 began in the U.S.
July 31 - Edward T. Hanley resigned as president of HERE after a corruption scandal

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

More Did you know (auto-generated)

... that the 1937 Fleischer Studios strike in New York City was the first major labor strike in the animation industry?
... that the communist trade unionist Ditto Pölzl was a member of all three provisional state governments of Styria in 1945?
... that when journalist and trade unionist Nisn Pups was released from jail, the Communist Party of Lithuania instructed him to change his name?
... that members of the Trade Union Opposition Federation stormed the Copenhagen Stock Exchange?
... 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 Scottish bricklayer Brian Higgins was unable to find work for 25 years after appearing on a construction-industry blacklist?

Related Portals

Selected image

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

Selected Quote

The hospital strikers have demonstrated that you don't get a job done unless you show the Man you're not afraid...If you're not willing to pay that price, then you don't deserve the rewards or benefits that go along with it."

— Malcolm X.

Did you know

...that while the first union was founded in 1927, Tanzania did not have a significant labor movement until the 1940s?
...that the Brazilian labour movement was predominantly anarchist until the 1920s?
...that during the Hardin County onion pickers strike in 1934, anti-union vigilantes seized control of the town of McGuffey, Ohio, for a day?

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