Top Highlights

• Unions were often extensions of the craft guilds that had been in existence since the Middle Ages, which is why many of the early unions represented specialised workers like mechanics and printers.
• Previously, workers had often been paid for a specific project (piecework) and worked at their own rhythm.
• Once unions were established, they were able to collect funds from members and help those workers who were sick or injured and so unable to work (and so were not paid).
• Unions also permitted the power of collective bargaining, where workers could improve their wages and contract conditions (if they actually had one). A union could also threaten an employer with a strike, where its members simply refused to work (but were temporarily paid by the union from its membership fees)
• Unions did not cater for working children, and these were left to face the challenges of corporal punishment, fines, threats, or instant dismissal that typified child labour during this period.

Domain