Trade Unions
-Are associations of workers formed to represent their interests and improve their pay and working
conditions.
Types of trade unions
1. Craft unions – These represent workers with particular skills e.g. plumbers, weavers etc.
2. General unions – Include workers with a range of skills and from a range of industries.
3. Industrial Unions – Represent all the workers in a particular industry e.g. rail industry
4. White collar unions – Represent particular professions including pilots and teachers.
The role of the trade unions
1. Negotiate on behalf of their members on wages, job security, working hours and working
conditions.
2. Provide information on a range of issues e.g. pensions.
3. Assist in education and training schemes
4. Provide a range of benefits such as strike pay, legal advice and sickness pay etc.
5. Pressurizing the government in adoption of legal issues such as fixing a national minimum wage.
Factors affecting the strength of a trade union
i. A high level of economic activity
ii. A high number of members
iii. A high level of skill
iv. A consistent demand for the product produced by the workers
v. Favourable government legislation
KEY TERMS
Collective bargaining: - Involves negotiations between union officials, representing a group of workers, and
representatives of employers.
Real Income – Income adjusted for inflation.
Industrial action – When workers disrupt production to put pressure on employers to agree to their
demands.
Strike – A group of workers stopping work to put pressure on an employer to agree to their demand.
NOTE: - Trade unions may seek to raise wages by restricting the supply of labour through demanding high
qualifications and restricting the employment to union members (closed shop). The opposite is open shop
