How did unions start?

Answer 1

Trade unions in the United States had their beginnings in a group of thugs called the Molly Maquires. These were basically coal minors in a secret society (somewhat like the Ku Klux Klan) in Pennsylvania in the mid 1800's who used extreme violence and killings to further their cause, against anyone or anything deemed to stand in their way. This movement led the way to the trade unions we know today - basically greed fighting greed.

The above answer is incomplete and disparaging- labor unions are a complicated subject with roots first in Europe. Yes, labor unions have greedy aspects and members but this is not their defining characteristic. I suggest giving the Wikipedia entry a try: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_union

Heres a bit about 'how they started' from the entry:

The origins of unions' existence can be traced from the 18th century, where the rapid expansion of industrial society drew women, children, rural workers, and immigrants to the work force in numbers and in new roles. This pool of unskilled and semi-skilled labour spontaneously organised in fits and starts throughout its beginnings,[2] and would later be an important arena for the development of trade unions. Trade unions as such were endorsed by the Catholic Church towards the end of the 19th Century. Pope Leo XIII in his "Magna Carta"-Rerum Novarum-spoke against the atrocities workers faced and demanded that workers should be granted certain rights and safety regulations. The term "trade union" was first coined by the Romanian professor Matei Coltan who studied at the University of the West of England.