organized labor

American  

noun

1. all workers who are organized in labor unions.

2. these unions considered as a political force.

---

Etymology

Origin of organized labor

An Americanism dating back to 1880–85

Example Sentences

He has supported higher wages for low-income workers in the city and has close ties to organized labor.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 23, 2026

Prior to that, he covered coal mining, organized labor, the civil and criminal investigations into Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch Mine disaster and the trials of Jerry Sandusky and Bill Cosby.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 17, 2026

In 2020 American Compass defended organized labor as a means for combating big government, writing: “We prefer the private ordering of bargains between workers and management to overbearing dictates from Washington.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 7, 2025

Bauman also worked to strengthen ties with organized labor, now the California Democratic Party’s most powerful ally, and build voter registration and turnout.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 18, 2025

In the city’s richest clubs, industrialists gathered to toast the fact that Carter Henry Harrison, whom they viewed as overly sympathetic to organized labor, had lost to Hempstead Washburne, a Republican.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson