Labor unions are associations of workers for the purpose of improving the economic status and working conditions of the employees through collective bargaining with employers (Union pp). The two general types of unions are the horizontal, or craft, union, which is composed of members who are skilled in a particular craft, such as the International Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, and the vertical, or industrial, union, which includes workers in the same industry of industries, regardless of skills, such as the United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (Union pp). And a company union is an employer-controlled union that has no affiliation with other outside labor organizations (Union pp).

Essentially, labor unions are the product of the Industrial Revolution, although there were associations of journeymen under the medieval system of guilds (Union pp). After the French Revolution, there were fear of uprisings by the working classes...
[ View Full Essay]