Trade Union Glossary Flashcards
Artisan (craft worker)
A skilled craftsman of the 18 th /19 th C who received higher wages and possessed a sense of social status higher than unskilled workers. e.g furniture maker.
Arbitration
An independent mechanism to resolve
industrial disputes. An arbitration board
should be composed predominantly of
people who are independent of the dispute.
They can try to negotiate a settlement which
can be voluntary or (in some countries)
compulsory to avoid an industrial dispute.
Blacklegs
A term given to workers who are not union
members and were employed during strikes
to undermine and break strikes, aka as
scabs.
Casual labour or work
Work that is arranged on a daily or weekly
basis. Dockers or building workers, for
instance, were employed on a daily basis depending on the demands of their
employers. This meant they did not have a
secure source of work and they were often
unemployed and nearly always poor.
Closed Shop
A workplace that only employs people who
are members of a trade union (that
represents workers of the industry of the
workplace). This ensured a strong union
presence in the workplace & strengthened
employer recognition of the union.
Collective bargaining
A process of negotiation between
employers and workers aimed at reaching
agreements about working conditions; the
interests of the workers are presented by
representatives of a national trade union to
which the workers belong.
Industrial action or strike or dispute
The organised withdrawal of all labour by
workers in an industry or service in order to
achieve improved working conditions or
wages; organised by workers themselves or
more commonly by their trade union.
Strikers do not receive their wages during
the strike – see strike fund below. Dispute;
strike or lock-out.
Legal (civil) immunity
A legal status that protects someone from
civil (not criminal) legal action. Strikes were
organised and led to losses for employers. This led to legal actions for conspiracy to cause damage, breach of contract and economic loss. The success of such legal actions could bankrupt unions and they would be deprived of their only source of
power, the strike, so they eventually secured from Parliament legal immunity from such legal actions.
Lock-out
The practice by employers to refuse to allow workers to attend work unless they agreed
to (worse) terms and/or wages. It was threatened and used by employers to aggressively impose new terms and conditions that would be resisted by workers and lock-outs usually led to strikes.
Militancy
A combative or aggressive approach to the cause, commonly held by trade unionists
and many socialists. Militant trade unionists
pursued change through strikes, general strikes and picketing of blacklegs; many of
them did so to achieve success of the strike
but others did so to achieve socialism.
Militant workers would often support socialist leaders for their militancy but not
necessarily for their socialism.
Model unions
Trade unions of skilled workers first established in 1850s-1860s to protect and promote their interests; often moderate in approach, supporting the Liberals. Open only to skilled workers of specific industries who could afford high membership fees. The fees were originally intended to create funds for unemployment, sickness etc. of members.
New unions
Trade unions of unskilled workers first
established in the 1880s-1890s; often
militant, sometimes led by socialists and
open to all workers.
Picket
A group of striking workers who enforce a
strike by demonstrating outside their place
of work to stop scabs/blacklegs entering it and doing their work. Other workers who
support the strike often join; trade unionists
are not supposed to cross picket lines as
this is a rejection of solidarity.
Scabs
Another word for blacklegs in rare
instances a trade union can split and some
trade unionists carry on working during a
strike. The strikers will treat them as scabs
for undermining the strike and picket them.
Shop Steward
An official representative of a trade union in a factory or other workplace; he or she organises the union locally, liaises with the
national union and deals with the employer on the behalf of the unionised workers.
Their proximity to workers meant that they
had more in common with workers than with
salaried national union officials. Often militant, certainly more than national officials.
Shop floor
A term that refers to the factory, mine or
shop in which the trade unionists actually
work. A shop steward may hold a meeting
of the unionised workers on the shop floor.
Skilled worker
A skilled worker who received higher wages
and possessed a sense of social status higher than unskilled workers. From the mid-19 th C skilled workers became important e.g engineering workers.
Solidarity (secondary) action
A collective sense of unity, common interest
and mutual support e.g the workers united
will never be defeated An important idea in
trade unionism and socialism, both
psychologically and politically. Unions could
come out in strike to support other striking
workers to show support and to achieve
success (secondary action).
Strike fund
A fund of money created from the weekly or monthly contributions of trade unionists so that they have a small amount of money
available when they go on strike.
Syndicalism
A political theory closely related to socialism
and anarchism that developed at the start of
the 20 th C – strikes should be used to go
beyond the dispute over conditions or wages in an industry and go on to defeat capitalism, the government and establish working class industrial democracy where workers own and run industry.
Trade union
A collective and organised group of workers
united by trade or industry set up to
represent the interests of its members.
Trade Union Council (TUC)
The national organisation set up in the 1860s to represent all trade unions – an umbrella pressure group sheltering a range
of members. Originally set up to represent
Model Unions it soon represented New
Unions too. There are Scottish, English and
Welsh TUCs.
Wildcat strikes
Strikes taken by trade unionists and shop
stewards in defiance of their national trade
union leadership and often led by
syndicalists or by workers dissatisfied with
the deal negotiated by their own national
leaders. They are wild as they are difficult to control, usually held in defiance of national union leaders and independently of
collective bargaining.
