Trade union

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Trade-unionism
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A trade union (

workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment,[1] such as attaining better wages and benefits, improving working conditions, improving safety standards, establishing complaint procedures, developing rules governing status of employees (rules governing promotions, just-cause conditions for termination) and protecting and increasing the bargaining power
of workers.

Trade unions typically fund their head office and legal team functions through regularly imposed fees called union dues. The

labour contracts
(collective bargaining agreements) with employers.

Unions may organize a particular section of skilled or unskilled workers (craft unionism),[2] a cross-section of workers from various trades (general unionism), or an attempt to organize all workers within a particular industry (industrial unionism). The agreements negotiated by a union are binding on the rank-and-file members and the employer, and in some cases on other non-member workers. Trade unions traditionally have a constitution which details the governance of their bargaining unit and also have governance at various levels of government depending on the industry that binds them legally to their negotiations and functioning.

Originating in the United Kingdom, trade unions became popular in many countries during the

unemployed. Trade union density, or the percentage of workers belonging to a trade union, is highest in the Nordic countries.[3][4]

Definition

Garment workers on strike, New York City, c. 1913

Since the publication of the

socialists also saw trade unions as a way to democratize the workplace, in order to obtain political power.[5]

A modern definition by the Australian Bureau of Statistics states that a trade union is "an organisation consisting predominantly of employees, the principal activities of which include the negotiation of rates of pay and conditions of employment for its members".[6]

Recent historical research by Bob James puts forward the view that trade unions are part of a broader movement of

fraternal organizations.[7]

History

Trade guilds

Following the unification of the city-states in

Eyalet of the Ottoman Empire) produced a Nerva–Antonine dynasty-era tablet from the ruins of the Temple of Antinous in Antinoöpolis, that prescribed the rules and membership dues of a burial society collegium established in Lanuvium, in approximately 133 AD during the reign of Hadrian (117–138) of the Roman Empire.[14]

A collegium was any association in ancient Rome that acted as a

ritual sacrifices, practising augury, keeping scriptures, arranging festivals, and maintaining specific religious cults.[19]

Modern trade unions

While a commonly held mistaken view holds modern trade unionism to be a product of

landed aristocracy. This transition was not merely one of relocation from rural to urban environs; rather, the nature of industrial work created a new class of "worker". A farmer worked the land, raised animals and grew crops, and either owned the land or paid rent, but ultimately sold a product and had control over his life and work. As industrial workers, however, the workers sold their work as labour and took directions from employers, giving up part of their freedom and self-agency in the service of a master. The critics of the new arrangement would call this "wage slavery",[22]
but the term that persisted was a new form of human relations: employment. Unlike farmers, workers often had less control over their jobs; without job security or a promise of an on-going relationship with their employers, they lacked some control over the work they performed or how it impacted their health and life. It is in this context that modern trade unions emerge.

In the cities, trade unions encountered much hostility from employers and government groups. In the United States, unions and unionists were regularly prosecuted under various restraint of trade and conspiracy laws, such as the

medieval Europe, though the relationship between the two is disputed, as the masters of the guilds employed workers (apprentices and journeymen) who were not allowed to organize.[25][26]

Trade unions and collective bargaining were outlawed from no later than the middle of the 14th century, when the

Combination Act 1825 severely restricted their activity.[citation needed
]

By the 1810s, the first labour organizations to bring together workers of divergent occupations were formed. Possibly the first such union was the General Union of Trades, also known as the Philanthropic Society, founded in 1818 in Manchester. The latter name was to hide the organization's real purpose in a time when trade unions were still illegal.[27]

National general unions

Poster issued by the London Trades Council, advertising a demonstration held on 2 June 1873

The first attempts at forming a national

textile related unions, but also including mechanics, blacksmiths, and various others. Membership rose to between 10,000 and 20,000 individuals spread across the five counties of Lancashire, Cheshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire within a year.[28] To establish awareness and legitimacy, the union started the weekly Voice of the People publication, having the declared intention "to unite the productive classes of the community in one common bond of union."[29]

In 1834, the Welsh socialist

socialists from Owenites to revolutionaries and played a part in the protests after the Tolpuddle Martyrs
' case, but soon collapsed.

More permanent trade unions were established from the 1850s, better resourced but often less radical. The London Trades Council was founded in 1860, and the Sheffield Outrages spurred the establishment of the Trades Union Congress in 1868, the first long-lived national trade union center. By this time, the existence and the demands of the trade unions were becoming accepted by liberal middle-class opinion. In Principles of Political Economy (1871) John Stuart Mill wrote:

If it were possible for the working classes, by combining among themselves, to raise or keep up the general rate of wages, it needs hardly be said that this would be a thing not to be punished, but to be welcomed and rejoiced at. Unfortunately the effect is quite beyond attainment by such means. The multitudes who compose the working class are too numerous and too widely scattered to combine at all, much more to combine effectually. If they could do so, they might doubtless succeed in diminishing the hours of labour, and obtaining the same wages for less work. They would also have a limited power of obtaining, by combination, an increase of general wages at the expense of profits.[30]

Beyond this claim, Mill also argued that, because individual workers had no basis for assessing the wages for a particular task, labour unions would lead to greater efficiency of the market system.[31]

Legalization, expansion and recognition

Lawrence textile strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts

Royal Commission on Trade Unions
in 1867 agreed that the establishment of the organizations was to the advantage of both employers and employees.

This period also saw the growth of trade unions in other industrializing countries, especially the United States, Germany and France.

In the United States, the first effective nationwide labour organization was the Knights of Labor, in 1869, which began to grow after 1880. Legalization occurred slowly as a result of a series of court decisions.[32] The Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions began in 1881 as a federation of different unions that did not directly enrol workers. In 1886, it became known as the American Federation of Labor or AFL.

In Germany, the

conservative Anti-Socialist Laws of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck
were repealed.

In France, labour organization was illegal until 1884. The Bourse du Travail was founded in 1887 and merged with the Fédération nationale des syndicats (National Federation of Trade Unions) in 1895 to form the General Confederation of Labour.

In a number of countries during the 20th century, including in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, legislation was passed to provide for the voluntary or statutory recognition of a union by an employer.[33][34][35]

Prevalence worldwide

World map with countries shaded according to their trade union density rate with statistics provided by the International Labour Organization Department of Statistics
  90.0–99.9%
  80.0–89.9%
  70.0–79.9%
  60.0–69.9%
  50.0–59.9%
  40.0–49.9%
  30.0–39.9%
  20.0–29.9%
  10.0–19.9%
  0.0–9.9%
  No data
Labor union membership by country
Hours Worked Compared to Earnings Per Week

Union density has been steadily declining from the OECD average of 35.9% in 1998 to 27.9% in the year 2018.[3] The main reasons for these developments are a decline in manufacturing, increased globalization, and governmental policies.

The decline in manufacturing is the most direct influence, as unions were historically beneficial and prevalent in the sector; for this reason, there may be an increase in

paid vacation, parental leave, etc., that decrease the need to be in a union.[36]

The prevalence of labour unions can be measured by "union density", which is expressed as a percentage of the total number of workers in a given location who are trade union members.[37] The table below shows the percentage across OECD members.[3]

Union density across OECD members (in %)
Country 2018 2017 2016 2015 2000
Australia 13.7 14.7 .. .. 24.9
Austria 26.3 26.7 26.9 27.4 36.9
Belgium 50.3 51.9 52.8 54.2 56.6
Canada 25.9 26.3 26.3 29.4 28.2
Chile 16.6 17.0 17.7 16.1 11.2
Czech Republic 11.5 11.7 12.0 12.0 27.2
Denmark 66.5 66.1 65.5 67.1 74.5
Estonia 4.3 4.3 4.4 4.7 14.0
Finland 60.3 62.2 64.9 66.4 74.2
France 8.8 8.9 9.0 9.0 10.8
Germany 16.5 16.7 17.0 17.6 24.6
Greece .. .. 19.0 .. ..
Hungary 7.9 8.1 8.5 9.4 23.8
Iceland 91.8 91.0 89.8 90.0 89.1
Ireland 24.1 24.3 23.4 25.4 35.9
Israel .. 25.0 .. .. 37.7
Italy 34.4 34.3 34.4 35.7 34.8
Japan 17.0 17.1 17.3 17.4 21.5
Korea .. 10.5 10.0 10.0 11.4
Latvia 11.9 12.2 12.3 12.6 ..
Lithuania 7.1 7.7 7.7 7.9 ..
Luxembourg 31.8 32.1 32.3 33.3 ..
Mexico 12.0 12.5 12.7 13.1 16.7
Netherlands 16.4 16.8 17.3 17.7 22.3
New Zealand .. 17.3 17.7 17.9 22.4
Norway 49.2 49.3 49.3 49.3 53.6
Poland .. .. 12.7 .. 23.5
Portugal .. .. 15.3 16.1 ..
Slovak Republic .. .. 10.7 11.7 34.2
Slovenia .. .. 20.4 20.9 44.2
Spain 13.6 14.2 14.8 15.2 17.5
Sweden 65.5 65.6 66.9 67.8 81.0
Switzerland 14.4 14.9 15.3 15.7 20.7
Turkey 9.2 8.6 8.2 8.0 12.5
United Kingdom 23.4 23.2 23.7 24.2 29.8
United States 10.1 10.3 10.3 10.6 12.9

Source: OECD[3]

Structure and politics

Cesar Chavez speaking at a 1974 United Farm Workers rally in Delano, California. The UFW during Chavez's tenure was committed to restricting immigration.

Unions may organize a particular section of skilled workers (craft unionism, traditionally found in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and the US[2]), a cross-section of workers from various trades (general unionism, traditionally found in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Netherlands, the UK and the US), or attempt to organize all workers within a particular industry (industrial unionism, found in Australia, Canada, Germany, Finland, Norway, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and the US).[citation needed] These unions are often divided into "locals", and united in national federations. These federations themselves will affiliate with Internationals, such as the International Trade Union Confederation. However, in Japan, union organisation is slightly different due to the presence of enterprise unions, i.e. unions that are specific to a plant or company. These enterprise unions, however, join industry-wide federations which in turn are members of Rengo, the Japanese national trade union confederation.

In Western Europe, professional associations often carry out the functions of a trade union. In these cases, they may be negotiating for white-collar or professional workers, such as physicians, engineers or teachers. In Sweden the white-collar unions have a strong position in collective bargaining where they cooperate with blue-colar unions in setting the "mark" (the industry norm) in negotiations with the employers' association in manufacturing industry.[38][39]

A union may acquire the status of a "

juristic person" (an artificial legal entity), with a mandate to negotiate with employers for the workers it represents. In such cases, unions have certain legal rights, most importantly the right to engage in collective bargaining with the employer (or employers) over wages, working hours, and other terms and conditions of employment. The inability of the parties to reach an agreement may lead to industrial action, culminating in either strike action or management lockout
, or binding arbitration. In extreme cases, violent or illegal activities may develop around these events.

Great Southwest Railroad Strike of 1886 was a trade union strike involving more than 200,000 workers.[40]

In other circumstances, unions may not have the legal right to represent workers, or the right may be in question. This lack of status can range from non-recognition of a union to political or criminal prosecution of union activists and members, with many cases of violence and deaths having been recorded historically.[41]

Unions may also engage in broader political or social struggle.

Social Unionism encompasses many unions that use their organizational strength to advocate for social policies and legislation favourable to their members or to workers in general. As well, unions in some countries are closely aligned with political parties. Many Labour parties
were founded as the electoral arms of trade unions.

Unions are also delineated by the service model and the organizing model. The service model union focuses more on maintaining worker rights, providing services, and resolving disputes. Alternately, the organizing model typically involves full-time union organizers, who work by building up confidence, strong networks, and leaders within the workforce; and confrontational campaigns involving large numbers of union members. Many unions are a blend of these two philosophies, and the definitions of the models themselves are still debated.

In the United Kingdom, the perceived left-leaning nature of trade unions (and their historical close alignment with the

Solidarity which is supported by the far-right BNP. In Denmark, there are some newer apolitical "discount" unions who offer a very basic level of services, as opposed to the dominating Danish pattern of extensive services and organizing.[42]

during a strike on 28 March 2006

In contrast, in several European countries (e.g. Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Switzerland), religious unions have existed for decades. These unions typically distanced themselves from some of the doctrines of orthodox Marxism, such as the preference of atheism and from rhetoric suggesting that employees' interests always are in conflict with those of employers. Some of these Christian unions have had some ties to centrist or conservative political movements, and some do not regard strikes as acceptable political means for achieving employees' goals.[2] In Poland, the biggest trade union Solidarity emerged as an anti-communist movement with religious nationalist overtones[43] and today it supports the right-wing Law and Justice party.[44]

Although their political structure and autonomy varies widely, union leaderships are usually formed through democratic elections.[45] Some research, such as that conducted by the Australian Centre for Industrial Relations Research and Training,[46] argues that unionized workers enjoy better conditions and wages than those who are not unionized.

International unions

The oldest global trade union organizations include the

International Transport Workers Federation, the International Federation of Journalists, the International Arts and Entertainment Alliance and Public Services International
.

Labour law

Union law varies from country to country, as does the function of unions. For example, German and Dutch unions have played a greater role in management decisions through participation in supervisory boards and co-determination than other countries.[49] Moreover, in the United States, collective bargaining is most commonly undertaken by unions directly with employers, whereas in Austria, Denmark, Germany or Sweden, unions most often negotiate with employers associations, a form of sectoral bargaining.

Concerning labour market regulation in the EU, Gold (1993)[50] and Hall (1994)[51] have identified three distinct systems of labour market regulation, which also influence the role that unions play:

  • "In the Continental European System of labour market regulation, the government plays an important role as there is a strong legislative core of employee rights, which provides the basis for agreements as well as a framework for discord between unions on one side and employers or employers' associations on the other. This model was said to be found in EU core countries such as Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Italy, and it is also mirrored and emulated to some extent in the institutions of the EU, due to the relative weight that these countries had in the EU until the EU expansion by the inclusion of 10 new Eastern European member states in 2004.
  • In the Anglo-Saxon System of labour market regulation, the government's legislative role is much more limited, which allows for more issues to be decided between employers and employees and any union or employers' associations which might represent these parties in the decision-making process. However, in these countries, collective agreements are not widespread; only a few businesses and a few sectors of the economy have a strong tradition of finding collective solutions in labour relations. Ireland and the UK belong to this category, and in contrast to the EU core countries above, these countries first joined the EU in 1973.
  • In the Nordic System of labour market regulation, the government's legislative role is limited in the same way as in the Anglo-Saxon system. However, in contrast to the countries in the Anglo-Saxon system category, this is a much more widespread network of collective agreements, which covers most industries and most firms. This model was said to encompass Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Here, Denmark joined the EU in 1973, whereas Finland and Sweden joined in 1995."[52]

The United States takes a more laissez-faire approach, setting some minimum standards but leaving most workers' wages and benefits to collective bargaining and market forces. Thus, it comes closest to the above Anglo-Saxon model. Also, the Eastern European countries that have recently entered into the EU come closest to the Anglo-Saxon model.

In contrast, in Germany, the relation between individual employees and employers is considered to be asymmetrical. In consequence, many working conditions are not negotiable due to a strong legal protection of individuals. However, the German flavor or works legislation has as its main objective to create a balance of power between employees organized in unions and employers organized in employers' associations. This allows much wider legal boundaries for collective bargaining, compared to the narrow boundaries for individual negotiations. As a condition to obtain the legal status of a trade union, employee associations need to prove that their leverage is strong enough to serve as a counterforce in negotiations with employers. If such an employee's association is competing against another union, its leverage may be questioned by unions and then evaluated in labour court. In Germany, only very few professional associations obtained the right to negotiate salaries and working conditions for their members, notably the medical doctor's association Marburger Bund [de] and the pilots association Vereinigung Cockpit [de]. The engineer's association Verein Deutscher Ingenieure does not strive to act as a union, as it also represents the interests of engineering businesses.

Beyond the classification listed above, unions' relations with political parties vary. In many countries unions are tightly bonded, or even share leadership, with a political party intended to represent the interests of the working class. Typically, this is a

Conservative Trade Unionists
, or CTU, formed of people who sympathized with right wing Tory policy but were Trade Unionists.

Historically, the

Republic of Korea has regulated collective bargaining by requiring employers to participate, but collective bargaining has only been legal if held in sessions before the lunar new year.[citation needed
]

Shop types

Companies that employ workers with a union generally operate on one of several models:

An EU case concerning Italy stated that, "The principle of trade union freedom in the Italian system implies recognition of the right of the individual not to belong to any trade union ("negative" freedom of association/trade union freedom), and the unlawfulness of discrimination liable to cause harm to non-unionized employees."[53]

In the United Kingdom, previous to this EU jurisprudence, a series of laws introduced during the 1980s by Margaret Thatcher's government restricted closed and union shops. All agreements requiring a worker to join a union are now illegal. In the United States, the Taft–Hartley Act of 1947 outlawed the closed shop.

In 2006, the European Court of Human Rights found Danish closed-shop agreements to be in breach of Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. It was stressed that Denmark and Iceland were among a limited number of contracting states that continue to permit the conclusion of closed-shop agreements.[54]

Impact

Economics

Income inequality and union participation have had a distinctly inverse relationship, with the disparity increasing since the 1980s.[55]

The academic literature shows substantial evidence that trade unions reduce

Right-to-work laws have been linked to greater economic inequality in the United States.[66][67]

The Hoover Institution think tank has asserted that the economic inequality argument made in favor of trade unions "misfires on several fronts. Those high union wages could not survive in the face of foreign competition or new nonunionized firms. The only way a union can provide gains for its members is to extract some fraction of the profits that firms enjoy when they hold monopoly positions." The think tank has also asserted that the decline of trade unions in the United States "cannot drive widespread inequality for the entire population, which is also affected by a rise in the knowledge economy as well as a general aging of the population."[68]

Research from Norway has found that high unionization rates lead to substantial increases in firm productivity, as well as increases in workers' wages.[69] Research from Belgium also found productivity gains, although smaller.[70] However, other research in the United States has found that unions can harm profitability, employment and business growth rates.[71][72] UK research on employment, wages, productivity, and investment found union density improved all metrics - but only until a limit. Forming U-shaped curves, after an optimal density, more unionisation worsened employment, wages, etc.[73][74] Research from the Anglosphere indicates that unions can provide wage premiums and reduce inequality while reducing employment growth and restricting employment flexibility.[75]

In the United States, the outsourcing of labour to Asia, Latin America, and Africa has been partially driven by increasing costs of union partnership, which gives other countries a comparative advantage in labour, making it more efficient to perform labour-intensive work there.[76] Trade unions have been accused of benefiting insider workers and those with secure jobs at the cost of outsider workers, consumers of the goods or services produced, and the shareholders of the unionized business.[77] Economist Milton Friedman sought to show that unionization produces higher wages (for the union members) at the expense of fewer jobs, and that, if some industries are unionized while others are not, wages will tend to decline in non-unionized industries.[78] Friedrich Hayek criticized unions in chapter 18 of his publication The Constitution of Liberty.[79]

Politics

In the United States, the weakening of unions has been linked to more favourable electoral outcomes for the Republican Party.[80][81][82] Legislators in areas with high unionization rates are more responsive to the interests of the poor, whereas areas with lower unionization rates are more responsive to the interests of the rich.[83] Higher unionization rates increase the likelihood of parental leave policies being adopted.[84] Republican-controlled states are less likely to adopt more restrictive labour policies when unions are strong in the state.[85]

Research in the United States found that American congressional representatives were more responsive to the interests of the poor in districts with higher unionization rates.[86] Another 2020 American study found an association between US state level adoption of parental leave legislation and trade union strength.[87]

In the United States, unions have been linked to lower racial resentment among whites.[88] Membership in unions increases political knowledge, in particular among those with less formal education.[89]

According to American socialist magazine Jacobin, "Labor unions have long occupied a paradoxical position within Marxist theory. They are an essential expression of the working class taking shape as a collective actor and an essential vehicle for working-class action. ... At the same time, unions are an imperfect and incomplete vehicle for the working class to achieve one of Marxist theory's central goals: overthrowing capitalism. Unions by their very existence affirm and reinforce capitalist class society. As organizations which primarily negotiate wages, benefits, and working conditions with employers, unions only exist in relation to capitalists."[90]

Health

In the United States, higher union density has been associated with lower suicide/overdose deaths.[91] Decreased unionization rates in the United States have been linked to an increase in occupational fatalities.[92]

See also

References

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  74. ^ Bryson, Alex. "Union wage effects." IZA World of Labor (2014).
  75. ^ Kramarz, Francis (19 October 2006). "Outsourcing, Unions, and Wages: Evidence from data matching imports, firms, and workers" (PDF). Retrieved 22 January 2007.
  76. ^ Card David, Krueger Alan. (1995). Myth and measurement: The new economics of the minimum wage. Princeton, NJ. Princeton University Press.
  77. .
  78. .
  79. .
  80. .
  81. .
  82. .
  83. .
  84. .
  85. . Event history analysis of state-level leave policy adoption from 1983 to 2016 shows that union institutional strength, particularly in the public sector, is positively associated with the timing of leave policy adoption.
  86. .
  87. .
  88. ^ "Why Unions Are Good — But Not Good Enough". Jacobin. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  89. PMID 31845387
    . Results – Overall, a 10% increase in union density was associated with a 17% relative decrease in overdose/suicide mortality (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.70, 0.98), or 5.7 lives saved per 100 000 person‐years (95% CI: −10.7, −0.7). Union density's absolute (lives‐saved) effects on overdose/suicide mortality were stronger for men than women, but its relative effects were similar across genders. Union density had little effect on all‐cause mortality overall or across subgroups, and modeling suggested union‐density increases would not affect mortality inequities. Conclusions - Declining union density (as operationalized in this study) may not explain all‐cause mortality inequities, although increases in union density may reduce overdose/suicide mortality.
  90. . Retrieved 31 January 2022. The Local Average Treatment Effect of a 1% decline in unionisation attributable to RTW is about a 5% increase in the rate of occupational fatalities. In total, RTW laws have led to a 14.2% increase in occupational mortality through decreased unionisation.

Bibliography

Further reading

  • Docherty, James C. (2004). Historical Dictionary of Organized Labor.
  • Docherty, James C. (2010). The A to Z of Organized Labor.
  • St. James Encyclopedia of Labor History Worldwide : Major Events in Labor History and Their Impact ed by Neil Schlager (2 vol. 2004)

Britain

  • Aldcroft, D. H. and Oliver, M. J., eds. Trade Unions and the Economy, 1870–2000. (2000).
  • Campbell, A., Fishman, N., and McIlroy, J. eds. British Trade Unions and Industrial Politics: The Post-War Compromise 1945–64 (1999).
  • Clegg, H.A.
    (1964). 1889–1910. A History of British Trade Unions Since 1889. Vol. I.
  • Clegg, H.A. (1985). 1911–1933. A History of British Trade Unions Since 1889. Vol. II.
  • Clegg, H.A. (1994). 1934–1951. A History of British Trade Unions Since 1889. Vol. III.
  • Davies, A. J. (1996). To Build a New Jerusalem: Labour Movement from the 1890s to the 1990s.
  • Laybourn, Keith (1992). A history of British trade unionism c. 1770–1990.
  • Minkin, Lewis (1991). The Contentious Alliance: Trade Unions and the Labour Party. p. 708.
  • Pelling, Henry (1987). A history of British trade unionism.
  • Wrigley, Chris, ed. British Trade Unions, 1945–1995 (Manchester University Press, 1997)
  • Zeitlin, Jonathan (1987). "From labour history to the history of industrial relations". Economic History Review. 40 (2): 159–184.
    JSTOR 2596686
    .
  • Directory of Employer's Associations, Trade unions, Joint Organisations. .

Europe

United States

  • Arnesen, Eric, ed. Encyclopedia of U.S. Labor and Working-Class History (2006), 3 vol; 2064pp; 650 articles by experts excerpt and text search
  • Beik, Millie, ed. Labor Relations: Major Issues in American History (2005) over 100 annotated primary documents excerpt and text search
  • Boris, Eileen, and Nelson Lichtenstein, eds. Major Problems In The History Of American Workers: Documents and Essays (2002)
  • Brody, David. In Labor's Cause: Main Themes on the History of the American Worker (1993) excerpt and text search
  • Guild, C. M. (2021). Union Library Workers Blog: The Years 2019–2020 in Review. Progressive Librarian, 48, 110–165.
  • Dubofsky, Melvyn, and Foster Rhea Dulles. Labor in America: A History (2004), textbook, based on earlier textbooks by Dulles.
  • Osnos, Evan, "Ruling-Class Rules: How to thrive in the power elite – while declaring it your enemy", The New Yorker, 29 January 2024
  • Taylor, Paul F. The ABC-CLIO Companion to the American Labor Movement (1993) 237pp; short encyclopedia
  • Zieger, Robert H., and Gilbert J. Gall, American Workers, American Unions: The Twentieth Century(3rd ed. 2002) excerpt and text search

Other

External links