Unions

Unions

Introduction

Labor Union refers to association of workers that seeks to improve the economic and social well-being of its members through group action . A labor union represents its members in negotiations with an employer over all aspects of an employment contract , including wages and working conditions . These contract negotiations are known as collective bargaining . By giving workers a united voice , a union can often negotiate higher wages , shorter hours , and better fringe benefits (such as insurance and pension plans ) than individual workers can negotiate on their own . When an

employer and a union cannot reach an agreement through the collective bargaining process , the union may conduct a strike (organized work stoppage . Or , an employer may prevent workers from entering the workplace in a lockout

In many countries , labor unions have official affiliations with political parties and seek to bring about social change through legislative and political action . In other countries , including the United States , no formal ties of this kind exist . The United States has a tradition of so-called business unionism , in which the main goal of the labor movement is to improve wages and working conditions . Unions in the United States , however , often engage in political activities . These activities include lobbying for legislation that furthers the aims of the labor movement and providing financial support to political candidates who are friendly to union causes

In the early 19th century all aspects of the employment contract including wages and hours of work , usually resulted from direct negotiation between employers and individual workers . Because of the imbalance of power , such negotiations favored employers . Labor unions began to form in the 19th century to help relieve the damaging effects of industrialization on workers , especially the long hours and low pay that factory work entailed . The earliest organizations of workers in the United States appeared in New York City and Philadelphia , Pennsylvania shortly before 1800 . These organizations represented the crafts of printers and shoemakers

Traditionally , there have been two main types of labor unions in the United States : craft unions and industrial unions . A craft union organizes workers employed in the same occupation or craft , regardless of where they work . Examples include unions of electricians , carpenters and printers . Craft unions descend from the guilds of printers and shoemakers that started the labor movement in the United States

Union members in the United States typically belong to a local . The local in a craft union may represent all members of that craft who reside in a particular geographic area , usually a city or a metropolitan area . Local 32 of the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craft Workers , for example , covers workers employed in those trades in Detroit , Michigan , and surrounding counties . The local in an industrial union , on the other hand , typically represents all workers employed at a particular workplace operated by a firm in that industry . Local 325 of the United Automobile Workers of America (UAW , for example , represents workers employed at the Ford plant in St . Louis , Missouri

The AFL-CIO...