labor movement

American  

noun

1. labor unions collectively.

   The labor movement supported the bill.

2. the complex of organizations and individuals supporting and advocating improved conditions for labor.

3. the effort of organized labor and its supporters to bring about improved conditions for the worker, as through collective bargaining.

   Their activities proved more harmful than helpful to the labor movement.

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labor movement Cultural  

1. The movement of workers for better treatment by employers, particularly through the formation of labor unions.

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Etymology

Origin of labor movement

First recorded in 1865–70

Example Sentences

“His vision as a leader helped put our Union at the forefront of the Labor movement in California and beyond,” the union wrote on social media.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 25, 2023

Labor movement icon Dolores Huerta took to the stage to hail Boyle’s community-building work as a response and antidote to racism, poverty and inequality, and led the crowd in a chant of “Viva.”

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 2, 2022

Hawke was born in 1929 to a family with strong connections to the Labor movement.

From BBC • May 16, 2019

I don't believe the Labor movement will say, 'Stop the world, we want to get off.'

From Time Magazine Archive

It marks a crisis in the American Labor movement.

From Socialism As It Is A Survey of The World-Wide Revolutionary Movement by Walling, William English