It is called "worker", the person who provides certain services in exchange for financial compensation. This is how they are called to people who work in factories or sectors responsible for the production of objects that the company sells. Workers, generally, must be of legal age to carry out such activities (otherwise, it would be considered child exploitation), in addition to having a series of benefits and optimal working conditions.
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The term worker is synonymous with worker, although the last term is currently the most used and according to worker rae “Paid manual worker”, it is a (natural) person who is of legal age or is authorized to provide some type of service that is linked to a company or person in particular, from a subordinate link and for whose work receives financial compensation.
This word in its etymology comes from the noun “work” and the suffix “ero” that indicates, trade, profession, position, employment, task; also from the Latin "operatorius". It should be noted that there are different types of workers, such as skilled workers, cleaning workers, temporary workers, etc.
Characteristics of the working class
Some of the characteristics that identify the labor movement are the following:
- Better working conditions. Among the improvements are, for example, better wages, reduced working hours and security.
- Political rights. Like freedom of expression, vote and association.
- Constant dialogue. The labor movement was characterized by the vast amount of debates and dialogues that it fostered indoors.
- Negotiation. The negotiation was the mechanism used to achieve their goals.
- Trade unions. Workers were grouped into unions, for example, by branch or by company.
- Those who make up these groups, even today, are known as trade unionists.
- Demonstrations and strikes. At the time of claiming, rebellion, strikes, demonstrations and other public events were commonplace within the labor movement.
- It only has its workforce to offer the productive apparatus.
- It is the weakest productive sector of capitalist society and the most abundant.
- In capitalism, they do not control the means of production (the bourgeoisie does), only in communism or socialism.
- In exchange for their work, they receive a stipend or salary, with which they can consume, including the same products that they produced with their effort.
- They are exploited by the bourgeoisie.
- Team work. One of the qualities that most characterized the social movement was the idea that, to achieve something, you worked as a team. When raising a claim or improvement, it was always done collectively, not individually.
Labor movement
The social labor movement, is the non-formal grouping of individuals or organizations dedicated to socio-political issues that aim at social change, which seeks greater welfare for workers, is closely related to the union movement.
From the Industrial Revolution a new social order was generated.
It arose from these conditions, but reached greater or lesser strength depending on the degree of industrial development of the countries. The first modern mass movements originated in England.
The birth of the labor movement is linked to the political, social and economic transformations brought about by the victory of the ideas of liberalism, both political and economic.
From the socio-political point of view, the disappearance of privileges and the establishment of the equality of all citizens before the law brought with them the disappearance of a stationary society and the establishment of a class society, composed of two classes:
1) The bourgeoisie (minority group)
2) The proletariat (majority group)
Membership in one class or another is determined by the wealth you possess and, in theory, we are in an open society because it is possible to move freely from one class to another, depending on the wealth you possess.
From the economic point of view, liberalism, capitalism, brings with it the non-intervention of the State in the economy. To this must be added the development of the Industrial Revolution, which gives rise to the development of machinery and strong population growth, the Demographic Revolution. The interrelation of these three factors will give rise to serious problems that will affect only the proletariat: poor working conditions, increased unemployment, low wages, neighborhoods of working class houses in very poor conditions, exploitation of women and children, illiteracy, etc.
As the State, dominated by the bourgeoisie and by virtue of the principle of non-intervention, does nothing to solve these problems, it will be the proletariat itself that starts the struggle to solve them, a struggle known as the Workers' Movement.
History of the labor movement
The labor movement was created in order to confront neoliberalism, that is to say, it rejected right-wing thoughts and, on the contrary, is entrenched in left-wing ideals, such as Marxism and anarchism.
Each country has its own history of how the labor movement was generated. Many will find meeting points, but the reality is that no story is the same as the other.
However, the origins of this movement are in England, in the 19th century, specifically at the time of the industrial revolution, where factories began to be created, with employers and employees, but without any labor regulation. Also, in the first years of industrialization, it was possible to appreciate the reduction in wages and the denial by companies to help their workers, with financing for illnesses or old age and they did not accept to pay forced stoppages.
That "liberalism" gave way to those who owned the factories focus on maximizing their production, leaving aside the welfare of their workers, exposing them to days of more than twelve hours of work, where children and women were the perfect targets to work as laborers, since their wages were lower than those of adult men.
The first revelations of the labor movement were called "Luddism", which was based on the destruction of machines in factories, a term that comes from the name of a worker in English called Ned Ludd, who in 1779 destroyed a power loom.
Despite this, with the passing of time, the working race understood that machines were not their enemies, but the use that was given to them, by orders of the employers. Thus the thinking changed and the complaints of the working mass began to fall on the shoulders of the businessmen, giving way to what became known as a movement of resistance to capital, called syndicalism.
The response of the English government was to prohibit the creation of workers' associations, persecuting all those who promoted them, which resulted in these movements having to meet clandestinely.
The results of those first social movements, in favor of the working class, are seen through the expansion of that sense of struggle, in favor of their rights and against the abuses of the employers. Consequently, international workers' associations and socialist political parties were created, which still exist today.
The evolution of the labor movement can also be seen in the creation of labor legislation in each country, where rules are established both for those who are the working mass, and for employers, defending rights, employer quotas and enforcing duties of both parties.
Undoubtedly, these events were reflected in history and not only at an academic or contextual level, but also in art, representing the worker, drawing and significant paintings.
Consequences and achievements of the labor movement
Workers were the victims of oppression by their employers, not only for their actions but also for their ideologies. They also received the rejection of a good part of society, for resorting to less peaceful mechanisms when they fought for their claims, in addition to repression by the state security forces.
Some demands from the unions were exaggerated for their employers, which also led to massive layoffs.
Achievements of the labor movement
Some of the achievements of the workers' struggle were reflected in job improvements, such as the following:
- Limitation of working hours.
- Prohibition of child labor.
- The approval of laws that guarantee safety in factories.
- The prohibition of women and adolescents to work in mines.
- The emergence of social security systems.
