Why did a labour movement begin?
In the 1700s and 1800s machines and factories spread (the Industrial Revolution). Many people moved from villages to towns to work for wages (money paid for work). They formed a new working class.
- Days of 12 to 16 hours, six days a week.
- Low pay, fines and no pay when sick or injured.
- Children working in mills and mines.
- Crowded, unhealthy housing.
One worker alone could be replaced easily. Together, they could stop production. This simple idea is the heart of the labour movement.
Trade unions, strikes and collective bargaining
A trade union is an organisation of workers that speaks for all its members. Early unions were often banned, and members could be jailed. Slowly they became legal.
Their main tools:
- Petition and protest: asking openly, often with marches.
- Strike: stopping work together, so the owner earns nothing until talks begin. A general strike stops many industries at once.
- Collective bargaining: union leaders and employers talk and sign an agreement on pay, hours and conditions for everyone.
- Mutual help: union funds paid members when they were ill or out of work.
Workers in different countries also linked up, for example in the International Workingmen's Association (1864). May Day (1 May) became an international workers' day after the 1886 campaign for an 8-hour day.
Ideas and parties: socialism, reform and 1905
Workers argued about how to change society:
- Reformists / social democrats: win votes, elect members to parliament and pass laws step by step.
- Revolutionary socialists: replace private ownership of factories with shared ownership, by revolution if needed.
- Anarchists and syndicalists: rely on unions and the general strike, not on the state.
Peasant movements demanded land and lower dues, and national movements wanted their own language, schools and self-rule. These often mixed with workers' demands.
The 1905–1907 revolution in the Russian Empire shows this mix. After soldiers fired on a peaceful workers' march in January 1905, huge strikes spread. Workers set up elected councils, peasants seized land, and national groups demanded schools in their own languages. The ruler was forced to allow a parliament and some unions, though many gains were later taken back.
What the movement won, and the role of the state
| Year | Gain |
|---|---|
| 1833 | A factory law in Britain limits children's working hours and sets up inspectors. |
| 1880s | Germany starts state insurance for sickness, accidents and old age. |
| 1886 | Mass strikes for the 8-hour day; origin of May Day. |
| 1919 | The International Labour Organization (ILO) is founded; its first agreement sets the 8-hour day. |
| 1926 | India's Trade Unions Act lets unions register legally. |
| 1948 | The Universal Declaration of Human Rights says everyone may form and join unions. |
Over time the state took on a bigger role: the welfare state offers pensions, unemployment benefit, health care, minimum wages and safety inspections. Governments acted because of union pressure, workers' votes, fear of unrest and the arguments of reformers.
The struggle is not over: today's issues include informal work without contracts, gig workers, equal pay for women and safe conditions in global supply chains.
Try it: the bundle test
Take one thin stick or one strand of dry spaghetti and snap it. Now hold ten together and try again. Then use the slider in the 3D: find the smallest number of workers that makes the owner say 'Let us talk'. Write one sentence linking the two experiments.
Key formulas and definitions
- Trade union: an organisation of workers that bargains for all its members
- Strike: workers stop work together to press their demands
- Collective bargaining: talks between a union and employers ending in a written agreement
- Working class: people who live by selling their labour for wages
- Welfare state: a state that provides pensions, health care and benefits for its people
- ILO (1919): the UN agency that sets international labour standards
- Socialism: the idea that major industries should be owned and run for the whole community
Worked examples
1. Why could one worker not win better pay alone in 1850?
There were many people looking for work, so the owner could replace a single complainer at once. Only when most workers acted together did stopping work hurt the owner.
2. Put these in time order: ILO founded, child-work law in Britain, India's Trade Unions Act, May Day strikes.
1833 child-work law → 1886 May Day strikes → 1919 ILO → 1926 Trade Unions Act.
3. How is a strike different from collective bargaining?
A strike is stopping work to put pressure on the employer. Collective bargaining is the talking that follows (or replaces) it, ending in an agreement.
4. Name one social and one national demand of 1905–1907.
Social: an 8-hour day or land for peasants. National: schools teaching in the people's own language.
Common mistakes
- Thinking unions were always legal. Early unions were often banned and leaders jailed.
- Treating every workers' group as revolutionary. Many chose peaceful reform through votes and laws.
- Believing the state granted rights on its own. Most laws came after long pressure from workers and reformers.
- Mixing up a strike (stopping work) with a lockout (the employer shutting workers out).