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Universal Postal Union

(Encyclopedia)Universal Postal Union (UPU), specialized agency of the United Nations since 1948, with headquarters at Bern, Switzerland. Established in 1875 following adoption of the Universal Postal Convention, it...

Fraser, Douglas Andrew

(Encyclopedia)Fraser, Douglas Andrew, 1916–2008, American labor leader, b. Glasgow, Scotland. His family emigrated to the United States when he was a child and settled in Detroit, where he began his working life ...

American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations

(Encyclopedia)American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), a federation of autonomous labor unions in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, and U.S. dependencies, formed in ...

Stern, Andrew L.

(Encyclopedia)Stern, Andrew L., 1950–, American labor leader, b. West Orange, N.J., grad., Univ. of Pennsylvania (B.A., 1971). A charismatic and frequently controversial reformer, he became a significant figure i...

Fair Labor Standards Act

(Encyclopedia)Fair Labor Standards Act or Wages and Hours Act, passed by the U.S. Congress in 1938 to establish minimum living standards for workers engaged directly or indirectly in interstate commerce, including ...

Reuther, Walter Philip

(Encyclopedia)Reuther, Walter Philip ro͞oˈthər [key], 1907–70, American labor leader, b. Wheeling, W.Va. A tool- and diemaker, he became shop foreman in a Detroit automobile plant, meanwhile completing his hig...

Bondfield, Margaret Grace

(Encyclopedia)Bondfield, Margaret Grace, 1873–1953, British political and trade union leader. A Labour member of Parliament (1923–24, 1926–31), she served as secretary to the minister of labor (1924) and, und...

collective bargaining

(Encyclopedia)collective bargaining, in labor relations, procedure whereby an employer or employers agree to discuss the conditions of work by bargaining with representatives of the employees, usually a labor union...

Bevin, Ernest

(Encyclopedia)Bevin, Ernest bĕvˈən [key], 1881–1951, British labor leader and statesman. An orphan who earned his own living from childhood, he began a long career as a trade union official when he became secr...

Wilson, William Bauchop

(Encyclopedia)Wilson, William Bauchop, 1862–1934, American labor leader, U.S. Secretary of Labor (1913–21), b. Blantyre, Scotland. Coming as a child to the United States in 1870, he worked in Pennsylvania coal ...