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 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...)

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

Selected article

Union Record Monday, February 3, 1919

The Seattle General Strike was a five-day general work stoppage by 65,000 workers in the city of Seattle, Washington from February 6 to 11, 1919. The goal was to support shipyard workers in several unions who were locked out of their jobs when they tried to strike for higher wages. Most other local unions joined the walk-out, including members of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). The national offices of the AFL unions were opposed to the shutdown. Local, state and federal government officials, the press, and much of the public viewed the strike as a radical attempt to subvert American institutions.

The strike's demand for higher wages came within months of the end of World War I, the original justification for the wage controls. From 1915 to 1918, Seattle had seen a big increase in union membership, and some union leaders were inspired by the Russian Revolution of 1917. Some commentators blamed the strike on Bolsheviks and other radicals inspired by "un-American" ideologies, making it the first expression of the anti-left sentiment that characterized the Red Scare of 1919 and 1920. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

November in Labor History

Significant dates in labour history.

November 01 - Malbone Street Wreck occurs on the first day of the BLE strike in 1918 in the U.S.; the first congress of the International Trade Union Confederation is held; the International Harvester strike of 1979–80 began
November 02 - Brian Behan died
November 03 - Nathan Feinsinger died; the U.S. Supreme Court decided Marquez v. Screen Actors Guild Inc.; Dennis McDermott was born
November 04 - Tomasz Arciszewski was born; James Green was born
November 05 - Eugene V. Debs was born; Nimrod Workman was born; Agustín Tosco died; the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike began
November 06 - Lloyd McBride died
November 08 - Ed Boyce was born; the 1892 New Orleans general strike began
November 09 - Congress of Industrial Organizations founded in the U.S.; Philip Murray died; Danny Greene was born; the Chicago Federation of Labor is founded
November 11 - Centralia massacre occurs in the U.S.
November 12 - Bituminous coal strike of 1974 begins in the U.S.; the Democratic Confederation of San Marino Workers is formed
November 13 - The UK firefighter dispute 2002–03 begins; Karen Silkwood died; the International Typographical Union begins publishing the Green Bay News-Chronicle during a strike
November 14 - The High Court of Australia issues its ruling in New South Wales v Commonwealth, upholding the validity of WorkChoices; Daniel J. Tobin died; the 2007 German national rail strike began
November 15 - Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions founded in the U.S.; Raymond McKay was born
November 16 - Jean Maitron died; the Jamaica Association of Local Government Officers is founded; Georges Marchais died
November 17 - Harold J. Gibbons died
November 18 - Chris Watson died
November 19 - William J. McCarthy died; Joe Hill is executed; the National Writers Union is formed
November 20 - Giles Hart was born; Richard Cordtz died
November 21 - William Green died; the Columbine Mine massacre occurred in 1927 in the U.S.
November 22 - David McDonald was born; Philip Murray is elected president of the CIO
November 23 - Harry Van Arsdale, Jr. died
November 24 - Charles Millard died
November 25 - George Mock died; the 2006 Progressive Enterprises dispute begins in New Zealand; Ted Saskin becomes executive director of the NHLPA in 2005
November 26 - The National Confederation of the Trade-Union Organizations of Ukraine is formed; Nimrod Workman died; Eliot V. Elliott died
November 27 - Donald Richberg died
November 28 - The U.S. Supreme Court decides Eastern Associated Coal Corp. v. United Mine Workers of America; André Morell died; William McFetridge was born
November 29 - John P. Frey died
November 30 - Mary Harris "Mother" Jones died; the General Federation of Trade Unions of Korea is formed

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

More Did you know (auto-generated)

... 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?
... that the communist trade unionist Ditto Pölzl was a member of all three provisional state governments of Styria in 1945?
... that Sting wrote "We Work the Black Seam" because he felt that "the case for coal was never put to the nation" during the 1984–85 British miners' strike, which began 40 years ago today?
... 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 the 1937 Fleischer Studios strike in New York City was the first major labor strike in the animation industry?
... that after Kellogg's announced plans to replace striking workers in 2021, members of r/antiwork organized to submit fake applications to the company's hiring system?

Related Portals

Selected image

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

Selected Quote

In spite of oppressors, in spite of false leaders, in spite of labor's own lack of understanding of its needs, the cause of the worker continues onward. Slowly his hours are shortened, giving him leisure to read and to think. Slowly his standard of living rises to include some of the good and beautiful things of the world. Slowly the cause of his children becomes the cause of all. His boy is taken from the breaker, his girl from the mill. Slowly those who create the wealth of the world are permitted to share it. The future is in labor's strong, rough hands."

— Mary Harris Jones.

Did you know

...that the "Mohawk Valley formula," a strikebreaking plan devised during the Remington Rand strike of 1936–37, was declared by the National Labor Relations Board to be "a battle plan for industrial war"?
...that actor Edward Chapman, known for his role as "Mr. Grimsdale" in many Norman Wisdom films, tried to have Sir John Gielgud thrown out of Equity?
... that although efforts to create a transportation trades department in the AFL–CIO began in the 1960s, the idea did not gain momentum until after the Teamsters reaffiliated with the AFL-CIO in 1987?

More Did You Know?

Topics

Get involved

For editor resources and to collaborate with other editors on improving Wikipedia's Organized Labour-related articles, see Organized Labour WikiProject.