Introduction
- 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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Labour economics, or labor economics, seeks to understand the functioning and dynamics of the markets for wage labour. Labour is a commodity that is supplied by labourers, usually in exchange for a wage paid by demanding firms. Because these labourers exist as parts of a social, institutional, or political system, labour economics must also account for social, cultural and political variables.
Labour markets or job markets function through the interaction of workers and employers. Labour economics looks at the suppliers of labour services (workers) and the demanders of labour services (employers), and attempts to understand the resulting pattern of wages, employment, and income. These patterns exist because each individual in the market is presumed to make rational choices based on the information that they know regarding wage, desire to provide labour, and desire for leisure. Labour markets are normally geographically bounded, but the rise of the internet has brought about a 'planetary labour market' in some sectors.
Labour is a measure of the work done by human beings. It is conventionally contrasted with other factors of production, such as land and capital. Some theories focus on human capital, or entrepreneurship, (which refers to the skills that workers possess and not necessarily the actual work that they produce). Labour is unique to study because it is a special type of good that cannot be separated from the owner (i.e. the work cannot be separated from the person who does it). A labour market is also different from other markets in that workers are the suppliers and firms are the demanders. (Full article...)June in Labor History
Significant dates in labour history.
- June 01 - Matthew Woll died; the United Farm Workers conducted its first strike in 1966 in Texas; the Cananea strike began in 1906 in Mexico
- June 02 - During the 1952 steel strike, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer; the Child Labor Amendment was adopted by the U.S. Congress; Charles Moyer died
- June 03 - The U.S. Supreme Court decided Hammer v. Dagenhart, outlawing child labor laws; Victor G. Reuther died; Emmanuel Christopher Loblack died
- June 04 - The Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers affiliated with the CIO; Lou Cunningham was born
- June 05 - Teamsters for a Democratic Union was formed; the U.S. Supreme Court decided Hague v. CIO; the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act became law
- June 06 - Don Farrell was born; CUPE 3902 was founded; N. M. Perera was born; Thomas Jackson died
- June 07 - The Steel Workers Organizing Committee was founded; the Matignon Agreements ended a general strike in 1936 in France; John Willcock died
- June 08 - Robert Lee Hill was born; Emil Rieve was born; Percy Wells was born
- June 09 - R. J. Thomas was born
- June 10 - The U.S. Supreme Court decided Anderson v. Mt. Clemens Pottery Co.; Frank Hayes died
- June 11 - John L. Lewis died; the Federación Sindical de Trabajadores Mineros de Bolivia was founded; José Bové was born
- June 12 - The 1981 Major League Baseball strike began in the U.S. and Canada; Philip Vera Cruz died
- June 13 - Israel Kugler was born; Tony Mazzocchi was born
- June 14 - 1911 Liverpool general transport strike began in the U.K.; government troops triggered the 2006 Oaxaca protests in Mexico
- June 15 - The Metal Trades Department, AFL–CIO was founded
- June 16 - Dave Beck was born
- June 18 - Battle of Ballantyne Pier occurred in Canada in 1935; the Battle of Orgreave occurred in 1984 in the U.K.
- June 19 - Nelson Cruikshank died; John W. Brown died; Tanong Po-arn disappeared
- June 20 - The American Railway Union was founded; Jim Bacon died; Evelyn Dubrow died; Alphonse Verville died
- June 21 - Nelson Cruikshank was born; the Herrin massacre occurred in 1922 in the U.S.; the U.S. Supreme Court decided United States v. Congress of Industrial Organizations; the "Molly Maguires" were hanged in the U.S.; Frank Drozak died
- June 22 - Riots occurred during the Grunwick dispute in 1976 in the U.K.; Paul Hall died; the U.S. Supreme Court decided Burlington Northern Railway v. White; the Sheffield Trades and Labour Council was founded; John Marius Trana was born
- June 23 - The Taft–Hartley Act became law in the U.S.
- June 24 - Terence V. Powderly died, Agnes Nestor was born
- June 25 - Winnipeg general strike of 1919 ended; the Smith–Connally Act became law in the U.S.
- June 26 - Timothy D. Murphy died; the Alliance of Concerned Teachers was formed; John W. Brown died; Emma Miller was born
- June 27 - The 1949 Australian coal strike began; the Industrial Workers of the World was founded; the Bureau of Labor Statistics was formed in the U.S.
- June 28 - President Grover Cleveland signed legislation establishing Labor Day in the U.S.; Alfred Miodowicz was born; Vere Bird died
- June 29 - The National Labor Relations Board was created; a lockout triggered the Homestead Strike; the merger of the blacksmiths and boilermakers formed the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers; Edward J. Carlough died; the U.S. Supreme Court decided Communications Workers of America v. Beck
- June 30 - Former labor union official Tomiichi Murayama became Prime Minister of Japan
More Did you know (auto-generated)
- ... that Italian anarchists founded the first trade union for bakers in Argentina?
- ... that on March 2, 2022, 86 percent of workers in New York City's REI store voted in favor of the outdoor recreation retailer's first ever trade union, REI Union SoHo?
- ... that the 2016 Jim Beam strike was the first labor strike in the company's history?
- ... that M. Farooqui, who had been expelled from his studies for having organized a strike in 1940, received his Delhi University degree in a special convocation in 1989?
- ... that a strike by uranium miners in 1974 in Ontario led to the creation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act?
- ... 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?
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With all their faults, trade unions have done more for humanity than any other organization of men that ever existed. They have done more for decency, for honesty, for education, for the betterment of the race, for the developing of character in men, than any other association of men."
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— Clarence Darrow. |
Did you know
- ...that the National Labor Board established the doctrine of representational exclusivity in American labor relations, a rule still used today?
- ...that labor leader Victor Kamber created playing cards with public figures in 1968 and the "Rappin' Ronnie" music video depicting a rapping Ronald Reagan in 1984?
- ...that in 1962 doctors went on strike in Saskatchewan for 23 days in an unsuccessful attempt to stop the introduction of universal health insurance?
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