TRADE UNION

also called Labour Union, an association of labourers in a particular trade, industry, or plant, formed to obtain by collective action improvements in pay, benefits, working conditions, and social and political status. Trade unionism as a movement originated in Great Britain, Europe, and the United States in the 19th century. It is, in many countries, synonymous with the term labour movement. The first fraternal and self-help associations of workingmen appeared in Great Britain in the 18th century. As such organizations turned their attention to political and economic matters they began to encounter organized hostility on the parts of employers and government. In Britain and the United States workingmen's associations remained sporadic and short-lived phenomena through much of the 19th century; unions and unionists were regularly prosecuted under various restraint-of-trade and conspiracy statutes. A marked difference between British and American trade unionism appeared early as the British movement exhibited a strong inclination to political activity that culminated in the formation of the Labour Party in 1906. British unionism received its legal foundation in the Trade-Union Act of 1871. In the United States the same effect was achieved, albeit more slowly and uncertainly, by a series of court decisions that whittled away at the use of injunctions, conspiracy laws, and other devices against unions. The founding of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) by several unions of skilled workers in 1886 marked the beginning of a successful, large-scale labour movement in the United States. During the 20th century the strength of the labour movement at any given moment has depended largely upon general economic conditions; in times of full employment and rising wages unionism has tended to lose some of its appeal, particularly among younger workers, while in recessionary times it has tended to attract more members. In both the United States and Great Britain the earliest unions were of skilled workers, and among them there was a widespread belief that unskilled workers were unsuitable subjects for union organization. Later, however, the idea of general unions, embracing large numbers of unskilled or semiskilled workers, was shown to be viable, and such mass unions appeared in Britain and several European countries. In the United States the AFL opposed attempts to organize the unskilled and in 1935 expelled a small group of member unions that were attempting to do so. The expelled unions formed the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), which by 1941 had assured the success of industrial unionism by organizing the steel and automobile industries. The AFL and the CIO merged in 1955 and between them represented some 15 million workers. The principles and practices of trade unionism are firmly embedded in the economic systems of all noncommunist industrial countries. Favourable legislation and, in some countries, direct political action have established collective bargaining as the principal means of settling wages, conditions, and disputes. The success of trade unionism in winning a strong voice for its members has been silently acknowledged in the adoption of many of its goals and tactics by professional associations and other groups traditionally thought to be beyond the scope of unionism.