Labor Unions In The Nineteenth Century

You might think that labor unions are a relatively new concept, but the idea had been around for hundreds of years just under a different name. Medieval Guilds were the forerunners of modern day unions. Two different types of guilds were formed in the same way. There were also several different levels within a guild as you became more skilled and older. The tenth and eleventh centuries were when guilds became a big part of medieval life because towns were finally springing up across the country side. Guilds were created when several skilled tradesmen in the same trade were all in the same town. (C.N. Trueman) The tradesmen would join together in order to protect themselves from the lords’ ridiculously high tax rates. No single person could protest these taxes but when a guild was
Craft guilds were more like tradesmen skilled in a certain field and Merchant guilds were traders. Craft guilds were groups of similar tradesmen that joined together. Craft guilds could be masons, carpenters, painters, cloth makers, tanners, bakers, cobblers, apothecaries, and candle makers. A person could not participate in a craft without being in the respective guild. Guilds made sure they monopolized all the work in the area in which they worked. They also restricted their membership so the members always had wor. guilds didn’t want to have too many members for the amount of work available. (Linda Alchin) Merchant guilds were associations of traders in the same town that banded together. The head of the guild would negotiate trade prices with the lord for the whole town. They also controlled how trade was conducted in the town. Once a member joined a merchant guild, he was able to achieve a much higher social status. Just as with craft guilds, the members were well respected. The guilds were separate from the civic government, but the chief spokesman of the merchant guild was usually the mayor of the town. (Linda