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 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...)

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Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is a labor union representing almost 1.9 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States and Canada. SEIU is focused on organizing workers in three sectors: healthcare (over half of members work in the healthcare field), including hospital, home care and nursing home workers; public services (government employees, including law enforcement); and property services (including janitors, security guards and food service workers).

SEIU has over 150 local branches. It is affiliated with the Strategic Organizing Center and the Canadian Labour Congress. SEIU's international headquarters is located in Washington, D.C., and it is one of the largest unions in the country.

The union is known for its strong support for Democratic candidates. It spent $28 million supporting Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election. In 2012, SEIU was the top outside spender on Democratic campaigns, reporting almost $70 million of campaign donations, television ads and get-out-the-vote efforts in support of President Obama and other Democrats. SEIU is a major supporter of the Affordable Care Act and of increased minimum wage laws, including wage increases for fast food workers. The union is the primary backer of the Fight for $15. (Full article...)

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May in Labor History

Significant dates in labour history.

May 01 - In 1884 Proclamation of the demand for eight-hour workday in the United States. Two years later, in 1886, the general strike which eventually won the eight-hour workday in the United States, began. These events are today commemorated as May Day or Labor Day in most industrialized countries; Thomas Lewis died; the 1946 Pilbara strike occurred in Australia; International Woodworkers of America merged with the International Association of Machinists; Mike Watson was born; the Taksim Square massacre occurred in Turkey in 1977
May 02 - Nazi Germany outlawed free trade unions and established the German Labour Front; Bernice Fisher died
May 03 - The International Typographical Union was founded; the Bay View Tragedy occurred in 1886 in the U.S.
May 04 - Haymarket Riot occurred in 1886 in the U.S.
May 05 - John Sweeney was born; Jackie Presser stepped down as Teamsters president due to cancer; James Duncan was born
May 06 - Miguel Contreras died; Frank Fitzsimmons died; Ludvik Buland was born
May 07 - Miguel Contreras was born; Maurice Hutcheson was born; David Sullivan was born
May 08 - Jerome Wurf was born; the Hard Hat riot occurred in the U.S. in 1970
May 09 - Elias Motsoaledi died; 1934 West Coast Waterfront Strike began in the U.S.
May 10 - Isaac Theophilus Akunna Wallace-Johnson died; Walter Philip Reuther died; the 2008 Skorpion Zinc Strike began in Namibia
May 11 - William Konyha was born; Pullman Strike began in 1894 in the U.S.
May 12 - Coal Strike of 1902 began in the U.S.; the American Maritime Officers was founded
May 13 - Henk Sneevliet was born
May 14 - Arthur Moore (labor leader) was born; the Ådalen shootings occurred in Sweden in 1931
May 15 - Pope Leo XIII issued Rerum Novarum; Winnipeg General Strike of 1919 began; George Mock stepped down as president of the Teamsters after eight days; the Ulster Workers' Council Strike began in 1974 in Northern Ireland; the U.S. Supreme Court decided Gompers v. Buck's Stove and Range Co.; Arthur Creech Jones was born
May 16 - The Minneapolis General Strike of 1934 began in the U.S.; the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions was founded; the U.S. Supreme Court decided NLRB v. Mackay Radio & Telegraph Co.; A. Philip Randolph died
May 17 - The first Starbucks Workers Union was organized; former trade union leader Francisco Largo Caballero was deposed as prime minister of Spain
May 18 - Bill Haywood died; the Atlanta transit strike of 1950 began in the U.S.
May 19 - James P. Hoffa was born; the Battle of Matewan began in 1920 in the U.S.
May 21 - Cyrus S. Ching was born
May 22 - Agustín Tosco was born; the Steel Workers Organizing Committee was disbanded in 1942; the United Steel Workers of America was founded in 1942
May 23 - The "Battle of Toledo" occurred during the Auto-Lite Strike in 1934 in the U.S.
May 24 - The Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals was founded; Peter J. Brennan was born
May 25 - Philip Murray was born; the Remington Rand strike of 1936–1937 began in the U.S.; Basdeo Panday was born; Will H. Daly was born
May 26 - Actors' Equity Association was founded; the Ohio Federation of Teachers was founded
May 27 - The U.S. Supreme Court decided In re Debs
May 29 - The Disney animators' strike began in 1941 in the U.S.; the Cordobazo uprising began in 1969 in Argentina; the 2006 TTC wildcat strike began in Canada
May 30 - William Sidell was born; the Memorial Day massacre of 1937 occurred in the U.S.; the U.S. Supreme Court decided Lehnert v. Ferris Faculty Association
May 31 - W. A. Boyle died

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

More Did you know (auto-generated)

... that the Russian airstrike on Kyiv TV Tower (video featured) killed Yevhenii Sakun, one of at least 14 civilian journalists killed in the line of duty during the Russo-Ukrainian War?
... that in 1969, the first women's strike for equal pay in the Netherlands was called in a cigar factory in Nieuwe Pekela?
... 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 when journalist and trade unionist Nisn Pups was released from jail, the Communist Party of Lithuania instructed him to change his name?
... that the 1937 Fleischer Studios strike in New York City was the first major labor strike in the animation industry?
... that the murder of Luisa Lallana sparked a general strike in Rosario, Argentina?

Related Portals

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

Selected Quote

What labor everywhere wants, what it ought to have, and will someday demand and receive, is an honest day's pay for an honest day's work. As the laborer becomes more intelligent he will develop what capital he already possesses—that is the power to organize and combine for its own protection."

— Frederick Douglass.

Did you know

...that firing of Anna Walentynowicz, a Polish free trade union activist, was one of the events that led to the giant wave of strikes in Poland and eventually the creation of Solidarity?
...that in 1954, the Federal Communications Commission sought to force union attorney Edward Lamb to surrender his broadcasting license on the grounds that he associated with communists?
... that some historians consider a 1619 strike by Polish craftsmen in the Jamestown Settlement to be the first strike in North American history?

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