Any association of workers whose main purpose is to bargain on behalf of workers with employers about the terms and conditions of employment; "any organization of any kind, or any agency or employee representation committee or plan in which employees participate and which exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of dealing with employers concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours of employment, or conditions of work." 29 U.S.C. §152(5).
In England, unions were originally indictable as criminal conspiracies. When statutes were enacted freeing them from this criminal liability they were still condemned by the courts as being organizations in restraint of trade, and therefore not deserving legal enforcement of their rights, an attitude that persisted for some time in the United States. 29 Am. Dec. 501. Today, labor unions are recognized in full by the law and are subject to regulation by the federal government under the National Labor Relations Act. See 29 U.S.C. §§151-168. See also closed shop; union shop.Compare cooperative association.
