labor union

American  

noun

labor unions plural

1. an organization of wage earners or salaried employees for mutual aid and protection and for dealing collectively with employers; trade union.

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labor union Cultural  

1. An organization of workers formed to promote collective bargaining with employers over wages, hours, fringe benefits, job security, and working conditions.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• labor unions
  plural

Etymology

Origin of labor union

First recorded in 1865–70

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

labor union

But my family’s health insurance, supplied by their labor union, wouldn’t cover care at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, where I had 33 radiation treatments.

From MarketWatch ● May 27, 2026

Samsung and its labor union are holding post-mediation talks this week in a final effort to reach a settlement.

From Barron's ● May 11, 2026

McOsker later worked as an attorney and registered city lobbyist representing the hotel industry and the Los Angeles Police Department’s labor union.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026

The International Transport Workers’ Federation, a labor union based in London that represents a million seafarers, has received about 1,000 inquiries since the start of the conflict from crew near the strait, asking for support.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 5, 2026

That night, on his narrow hotel bed, he thought sleepily about pre-empting Comrade Pillai by organizing his workers into a sort of private labor union.

From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy

Related Words

• trade union