trade union

/ˌtreɪd ˈjunjən/

/treɪd ˈjunjən/

Other forms: trade unions

When workers join together to protect their rights, they form a trade union. With the help of trade unions, teachers, police officers, and restaurant servers can bargain for fair pay and safe work conditions.

Trade unions are also called "labor unions," or simply "unions." The earliest ones were organized in Britain during the Industrial Revolution. The explosion of available jobs was accompanied by dangerous working conditions and unscrupulous employers. Workers formed trade unions to present a more powerful, unified group when they bargained with their bosses for higher wages and safer workplaces, a practice that still exists today. A person's trade is their work or business.

Definitions of trade union

1. noun

   an organization of employees formed to bargain with the employer
   synonyms: brotherhood, labor union, trades union, union

   types:

   industrial union, vertical union

   a labor union that admits all workers in a given industry irrespective of their craft

   craft union

   a labor union whose membership is restricted to workers in a particular craft

   company union

   a union of workers for a single company; a union not affiliated with a larger union

   I.W.W., IWW, Industrial Workers of the World

   a former international labor union and radical labor movement in the United States; founded in Chicago in 1905 and dedicated to the overthrow of capitalism; its membership declined after World War I

   Teamsters Union

   an industrial union of truck drivers and chauffeurs and warehouse workers

   United Mine Workers, United Mine Workers of America

   an industrial union of mine workers in North America

   type of:

   organisation, organization

   a group of people who work together