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Glossary

  1. Labor union: An organization which represents a group of people organized to negotiate with management by means of collective bargaining.
  2. Productivity: The amount of output per unit of input.
  3. Collective bargaining: When a group of workers who represent other workers in the same company sit down with management to discuss better working conditions, pay, and benefits.
  4. Strike: A stoppage of work caused by workers walking off the job refusing to work.
  5. Lockout: A stoppage of work caused by management locking out employees and keeping them from being able to work.
  6. Replacement Workers: Workers hired by management to replace striking workers. Called "scabs" by striking union members.
  7. Labor: The input that involves the physical and intellectual services of people, including training, education, and peoples' abilities.
  8. Labor Market: The supply and demand for workers.
  9. Minimum Wage Laws: Laws that set a price floor for wages, the minimum an employer must pay for one hour of work.
  10. Compensating Wage Differential: The difference in income that people make to compensate for an unpleasant working environment. For example construction workers can make more money than people with college degrees because they must be compensated for harsh working conditions. 
  11. Derived Demand: The demand for a resource based on its contribution to a final product.
  12. John L. Lewis: The founder of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO).
  13. Samuel Gompers: The first president of the American Federation of Labor (AFL).
  14. AFL-CIO: An organization formed in 1955 when the AFL and CIO combined. The AFL-CIO is the largest union organization in the United States.
  15. Craft Union: A union formed where all members of the union have the same skill.
  16. Industrial Union: A union formed to represent both skilled and unskilled workers.