Organized labour

The Labour movement or Labor movement (see spelling differences), or, respectively, labourism or laborism, are general terms for the collective organization of working people developed to represent and campaign for better working conditions and treatment from their employers and, by the implementation of labour and employment laws, their governments. The standard unit of organization is the trade union.

In some countries, especially the United Kingdom and Australia, the labour movement is understood to include a formal political wing, usually as a political party known as a "labour party" or "". Many individuals and political groups otherwise considered to represent ruling classes may be part of and active in the labour movement.

Contemporary labourism developed in response to the depredations of industrial capitalism at about the same time as socialism. However, while the goal of labourism was to protect and strengthen the interests of labour within capitalism, the goal of socialism was to replace the capitalist system entirely.

Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.

In Europe, the labour movement began during the industrial revolution, when agricultural jobs declined and employment moved to more industrial areas. The idea met with great resistance. In the early 19th century, groups such as the Tolpuddle Martyrs of Dorset were punished and transported for forming unions, which was against the laws of the time.

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