As an organized movement, trade unionism (also called organized labor) originated in the 19th century in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States. In many countries trade unionism is synonymous with the term labor movement. Smaller associations of workers started appearing in Britain in the 18th century, but they remained sporadic and short-lived through most of the 19th century, in part because of the hostility they encountered from employers and government groups that resented this new form of political and economic activism. At that time unions and unionists were regularly prosecuted under various restraint-of-trade and conspiracy statutes in both Britain and the United States.

While union organizers in both countries faced similar obstacles, their approaches evolved quite differently: the British movement favored political activism, which led to the formation of the Labor Party in 1906, while American unions pursued collective bargaining as a means of winning economic gains for their workers.

In the United States the labor movement was also adversely affected by the movement to implement so-called right-to-work laws, which generally prohibited the union shop, a formerly common clause of labor contracts that required workers to join, or pay service fees to, a union as a condition of employment. Right-to-work laws, which had been adopted in more than half of U.S. states and the territory of Guam by the early 21st century, were promoted by economic libertarians, trade associations, and corporate-funded think tanks as necessary to protect the economic liberty and freedom of association of workers. They had the practical effect of weakening collective bargaining and limiting the political activities of unions by depriving them of funds. Certain other states adopted separate legislation to limit or prohibit collective bargaining or the right to strike by public-sector unions. In Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (2018), the U.S. Supreme Court held that public employees cannot be required to pay service fees to a union to support its collective-bargaining activities on their behalf.

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