Draft:Unionization

Unionization is the act, process, or strategy by which workers form or grow labor unions. Unionization as a political and economic strategy developed during the Industrial Revolution through the labor movement. Unionization has generally been associated with left-wing political ideologies and strategies, including strains of socialism, communism, syndicalism, and social democracy.

Historically, workers have organized by industry or by occupation. Workers have also proposed the formation of general unions, which would represent workers across industries, employers and occupations.

Workers and union officials across industries employ several models in forming and growing unions, primarily the organizing model and the service model. Socialists and their allies have also employed models that tie unionization to broader political and social struggles, including social movement unionism and the rank and file strategy. The various models of unionization differ in the weight that they afford to participation in broader social movements, the role of union leadership, the goals of unionization, and the methods for achieving those goals.

Forms of labor organization
Unions are generally organized by industry, occupation, or employer. Unions initially developed by craft or trade, with their roots in the guild traditions of the Middle Ages. During the industrial revolution, unions began to organize around particular industries, without occupation-based limitations on membership.

Craft unionism
Craft unionism organizes workers according to their occupation. Craft unions have historical roots in the guild tradition.

Industrial unionism
Industrial unionism is the practice of organizing workers across an entire industry or employer, regardless of occupation, within a single union.

Models of union formation and growth
In the 20th century, workers and union officials began to develop models to guide unionization efforts. The primary models are the organizing model and the service (or servicing) model. The organizing model is a grassroots method centered around rank-and-file members of the union, who build the union structure and guide its agenda. The service model, by contrast, focuses on providing services to union members through the work of full-time union staff.

Organizing model
The organizing model of unionization is a grassroots method that generally relies on the use of full-time union organizers who build networks and foster rank-and-file leadership within unions to promote specific campaigns or goals.

Service model
The service model of unionization is a top-down approach that focuses on resolving worker grievances and promoting union benefits.

Socialist models
Social movement unionism refers to a model that ties labor unions to broader social, political, and economic struggles. In developing countries, social movement unionism has generally operated through the creation of a popular front between unions and social movements.

The rank and file strategy is a socialist method of union organizing, first described by American labor writer Kim Moody in 2000, that involves encouraging socialists to take jobs in key industries or sectors as a means of bringing class consciousness to workers who might be sympathetic to socialist tendencies and tying unionization efforts to broader class struggles. Rank and file unionists reject top-down union structures, through which "rank-and-file workers become passive agents—those who 'are organized' rather than organize[rs] themselves". Instead, the strategy relies on a "militant minority", "a layer of rank and file, i.e., workplace-based, leadership that can organize in the workplace on a day-to-day basis" that is "composed of respected, trusted, and militant shop-floor leaders, people known as reliable sources of information and advice who are capable of moving their peers into action".

Race and gender in union organizing
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Unionization in the United States
Recent increase in unionization

https://mndaily.com/275959/news/umn-grad-student-workers-launch-unionization-campaign/

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/03/01/business/starbucks-union-ruling/index.html

https://www.epi.org/publication/unionization-2022/

Unionization in country X
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