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, safe working conditions 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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Cesario Estrada Chavez (/ˈtʃɑːvɛz/; Spanish: [ˈtʃaβes]; March 31, 1927 – April 23, 1993) was an American labor leader and civil rights activist. Along with Dolores Huerta and lesser known Gilbert Padilla, he co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), which later merged with the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC) to become the United Farm Workers (UFW) labor union. Ideologically, his worldview combined left-wing politics with Catholic social teachings.

Born in Yuma, Arizona, to a Mexican-American family, Chavez began his working life as a manual laborer before spending two years in the U.S. Navy. Relocating to California, where he married, he got involved in the Community Service Organization (CSO), through which he helped laborers register to vote. In 1959, he became the CSO's national director, a position based in Los Angeles. In 1962, he left the CSO to co-found the NFWA, based in Delano, California, through which he launched an insurance scheme, a credit union, and the El Malcriado newspaper for farmworkers. Later that decade, he began organizing strikes among farmworkers, most notably the successful Delano grape strike of 1965–1970. Amid the grape strike, his NFWA merged with Larry Itliong's AWOC to form the UFW in 1967. Influenced by the Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi, Chavez emphasized direct nonviolent tactics, including pickets and boycotts, to pressure farm owners into granting strikers' demands. He imbued his campaigns with Roman Catholic symbolism, including public processions, Masses, and fasts. He received much support from labor and leftist groups but was monitored by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

In the early 1970s, Chavez sought to expand the UFW's influence outside California by opening branches in other U.S. states. Viewing illegal immigrants as a major source of strike-breakers, he also pushed a campaign against illegal immigration into the U.S., which generated violence along the U.S.-Mexico border and caused schisms with many of the UFW's allies. Interested in co-operatives as a form of organization, he established a remote commune at Keene. His increased isolation and emphasis on unrelenting campaigning alienated many California farmworkers who had previously supported him, and by 1973 the UFW had lost most of the contracts and membership it won during the late 1960s. His alliance with California Governor Jerry Brown helped ensure the passing of the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975, although the UFW's campaign to get its measures enshrined in California's constitution failed. Influenced by the Synanon religious organization, Chavez re-emphasized communal living and purged perceived opponents. Membership of the UFW dwindled in the 1980s, with Chavez refocusing on anti-pesticide campaigns and moving into real-estate development, generating controversy for his use of non-unionized laborers. (Full article...)

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January in Labor History

Significant dates in labour history.

January 01 - The 1966 New York City transit strike began; the United Transportation Union was founded; the Swedish Trade Union Confederation was founded; Union Network International was founded; the Workplace Relations Act 1996 entered into force in Australia
January 02 - The Sago Mine disaster occurred in the 2006 in the U.S.
January 03 - The 1929 Australian timber workers' strike began; Guy Ryder was born
January 04 - The St. John's University strike of 1966–67 began in the U.S.; the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union merged in 1999 with the United Paperworkers International Union to form the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union
January 05 - The 1891 Australian shearers' strike began; the 1919 Spartacist uprising began in Berlin
January 07 - Edward T. Hanley died; A. P. T. James died
January 08 - SEIU Local 1.on was founded
January 09 - Maurice Hutcheson died; Sol Chick Chaikin was born
January 11 - The 1912 Lawrence textile strike began in the U.S.; Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union merged with the United Steelworkers; Bogdan Borusewicz was born
January 12 - Cornelius Shea died
January 14 - The Reesor Siding strike of 1963 began in Canada; Joseph Glimco was born
January 15 - Michael Sommer was born; the song "Solidarity Forever" is written; the Steel strike of 1959 ends in the U.S.
January 16 - Dutta Samant was murdered; Leonard Woodcock died; Daniel John O'Donoghue died
January 17 - Pablo Manlapit was born
January 18 - The U.S. Supreme Court decided Moyer v. Peabody in 1909; Mary Kenney O'Sullivan died; the 1912 Brisbane general strike began in Australia; the Dublin Lock-out ended in 1914; Paul Keating was born; the Great Bombay textile strike began
January 19 - Thomas Kennedy died; Morris Kight died; Bill Andersen died; Annie Buller died
January 20 - The Tunisian General Labour Union was founded; trade unions launched the 2005 civil unrest in Belize; Harriot Eaton Stanton Blatch was born; Bruce Nissen was born
January 21 - Edward T. Hanley was born; Bill Andersen was born; J. H. Thomas died; Nicholas Pollard Sr. died
January 22 - The United Mine Workers was founded; Terence V. Powderly was born; Andrew Furuseth died; Chea Vichea was murdered; Gyula Peidl died; Ong Teng Cheong died
January 23 - David Sullivan died; Nikolaus Gross died
January 24 - The Wapping dispute began in 1986 in the U.K.; Emil Rieve died; the 1977 Massacre of Atocha occurred in Spain; Henri Krasucki died; Herbert Hill was born; the Supreme Court of Canada issued its reasoning in R.W.D.S.U., Local 558 v. Pepsi-Cola Canada Beverages (West) Ltd.; the Alliance for Labor Action was dissolved
January 25 - The Sheet Metal Workers' International Association was founded; Matthew Woll was born; Chummy Fleming died
January 26 - Bernard Kleiman was born
January 27 - Samuel Gompers was born; the U.S. Supreme Court decided Lechmere, Inc. v. NLRB; Ben Tillett died; the U.S. Supreme Court decided Adair v. United States; Frank Tudor was born
January 28 - Mike Quill died; Harry Lundeberg died; Mike Moore was born; James Scullin died
January 29 - The Timex strike began in 1993 in Scotland; Anna LoPizzo died; John M. Dunn died
January 30 - Edward Heitmann died
January 31 - The 1919 Battle of George Square occurred in Scotland; New Orleans fired all members of the United Teachers of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina; Bob Semple died

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

More Did you know (auto-generated)

... that the 1937 Fleischer Studios strike in New York City was the first major labor strike in the animation industry?
... that on February 3, 1986, African Independence Party leaders Adama Touré and Adama Touré were released from detention?
... that the murder of Luisa Lallana sparked a general strike in Rosario, Argentina?
... that the day after returning to Atlanta following his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance in 1964, Martin Luther King Jr. joined picketers who were on strike against Scripto?
... that in 1969, the first women's strike for equal pay in the Netherlands was called in a cigar factory in Nieuwe Pekela?
... that Ana Sigüenza was the first woman to be the general secretary of a national trade union center in Spain?

Related Portals

Selected image

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

Selected Quote

Only a fool would try to deprive working men and working women of their right to join the union of their choice."

— Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Did you know

...that despite the relatively low level of academic output by Professor Gary Chaison, he is widely cited in the American mass media?
...that the Workers Committee for National Liberation, a communist labour group, was broken up by the Egyptian government in January 1946?
... that the AFL–CIO gained its latest member union when the 265,000-member UNITE HERE reaffiliated on September 16, 2009?

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