Businesses and labour unions

The Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (HKFTU) is a pro-Beijing labour and political group established in 1948 in Hong Kong.
It is the oldest and largest labour group in Hong Kong with over 420,000 members in 253 affiliates and associated trade unions.
Presided by Ng Chau-pei and chaired by Kingsley Wong, it currently holds four seats in the Legislative Council and five seats in the District Councils.

Labour unions emerged in Japan in the second half of the Meiji period, after 1890, as the country underwent a period of rapid industrialization.
Until 1945, however, the labour movement remained weak, impeded by a lack of legal rights, anti-union legislation, management-organized factory councils, and political divisions between “cooperative” and radical unionists.

Labor unions represent United States workers in many industries recognized under US labor law since the 1935 enactment of the National Labor Relations Act.
Their activity today centers on collective bargaining over wages, benefits, and working conditions for their membership, and on representing their members in disputes with management over violations of contract provisions.
Larger trade unions also typically engage in lobbying activities and electioneering at the state and federal level.

Labour Day is an annual holiday to celebrate the achievements of workers.
Labour Day has its origins in the labour union movement, specifically the eight-hour day movement, which advocated eight hours for work, eight hours for recreation, and eight hours for rest.

This is a list of trade unions and union federations by country.

The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers is a British trade union covering the transport sector.
Its current President is Alex Gordon and its current General Secretary is Mick Lynch.

The Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) is the national trade union centre in Scotland.
With 40 affiliated unions as of 2020, the STUC represents over 540,000 trade unionists.

Trade unions in the United Kingdom were first decriminalised under the recommendation of a Royal commission in 1867, which agreed that the establishment of the organisations was to the advantage of both employers and employees.
Legalised in 1871, the Trade Union Movement sought to reform socio-economic conditions for working men in British industries, and the trade unions' search for this led to the creation of a Labour Representation Committee which effectively formed the basis for today's Labour Party, which still has extensive links with the Trade Union Movement in Britain.
Margaret Thatcher's governments weakened the powers of the unions in the 1980s, in particular by making it more difficult to strike legally, and some within the British trades union movement criticised Tony Blair's Labour government for not reversing some of Thatcher's changes.
Most British unions are members of the TUC, the Trades Union Congress, or where appropriate, the Scottish Trades Union Congress or the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, which are the country's principal national trade union centres.

Union busting is a range of activities undertaken to disrupt or prevent the formation of trade unions or their attempts to grow their membership in a workplace.

The World Confederation of Labour (WCL) was an international labour organization founded in 1920 and based in Europe.
Fascist governments of the 1930s repressed the federation and imprisoned many of its leaders, limiting operations until the end of World War II.
In 2006 it became part of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), ending its existence as an independent organization.