title: T-54/T-55

text: In the Lebanese Civil War, on 10 June 1982, eight Israeli M48A3s, two M60A1s and at least three M113 APCs were lost in an ambush by Syrian T-55 tanks and BMP-1 APCs during the Battle of Sultan Yacoub.


title: T-54/T-55

text: The tank was heavily used during the Iran–Iraq War of 1980–88. T-54/55 participated in the biggest tank battle of the war in early 1981. Iran lost 214 Chieftain and M60A1 tanks in the battle. In return, Iraq lost 45 T-55 and T-62 tanks. Another known tank battle occurred on 11 October 1980, when a large Iranian convoy supported by battalion of Chieftains (92nd Division) was ambushed by battalion of Iraqi T-55s (26th Brigade). During the battle, the Iranians lost 20 Chieftains plus other armoured vehicles and withdrew.


title: T-54/T-55

text: Many of Iraqi T-55s saw action during Operation Desert Storm in Iraq and Kuwait in January/February 1991, and during the 2003 US/UK invasion of Iraq with poor results.


title: T-54/T-55

text: During the Vietnam War, the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) used T-54s, along with its Chinese-built copy (the Type 59), extensively against the South Vietnamese ARVN and their allied US forces.


title: T-54/T-55

text: The NVA and the ARVN engaged each other with tanks for the first time during Operation Lam Son 719 in February 1971. During that battle, 17 M41 Walker Bulldog light tanks of the ARVN's 1st Armoured Brigade claimed destroy 22 NVA tanks, a total of 6 T-54s and 16 PT-76 light amphibious tanks, at no loss to themselves, but their friendly units lost 5 M41s and 25 armoured personnel carriers (APCs), mainly M113 APCs.


title: T-54/T-55

text: On Easter Sunday, 2 April 1972, the newly activated 20th Tank Regiment of the ARVN, comprising approximately 57 M48A3 Patton main battle tanks (note that ARVN "regiments" were equivalent to US "battalions", and ARVN "squadrons" were equivalent to US "companies" or "troops") received reports from friendly intelligence units of a large NVA armoured column moving towards Dong Ha, the largest South Vietnamese city near the Vietnamese DMZ located on the 17th Parallel. At about noontime, the tank crewmen of the ARVN's 1st Squadron observed enemy armour moving south along Highway 1 towards Dong Ha and promptly concealed their tanks on high ground with a good vantage point against their enemy. Waiting for the NVA tank column to close to between 2500 and 3000 meters, the 90mm main guns of the Patton tanks opened fire and quickly destroyed nine PT-76s and two T-54 tanks. The surviving NVA armour, unable to locate their enemy's positions, hastily turned about and withdrew shortly afterwards.


title: T-54/T-55

text: On 9 April 1972, all three squadrons of the 20th Tank Regiment (57 M48 tanks) fought hard against enemy armour, firing upon NVA tanks accompanied by large masses of infantry, again while occupying the strategically important high ground. This time, similarly, the Pattons opened fire at approximately 2800 meters. A few answering-shots from the North Vietnamese T-54s fell short and the NVA tanks began to scatter after suffering considerable losses and heavy casualties. By the end of the day, the 20th claimed destroy sixteen T-54s and captured one Type 59 at no loss to themselves. (The NVA confirmed six tank were destroyed)


title: T-54/T-55

text: NVA armoured units equipped with the T-54 tank achieved one of their greatest victories in April 1972 when the NVA 203rd Armoured Regiment attacked the ARVN's 22nd Infantry Division based at Tân Cảnh Base Camp, which dominated a main route into the city of Kon Tum, located near the 17th Parallel. After a two-day-long intense artillery barrage, eighteen T-54 tanks from the NVA side attacked the South Vietnamese infantry camp at dawn from two different directions, thus breaking apart the ARVN unit into two and splitting up its forces, which quickly abandoned its positions and withdrew. T-54 tank No. 377 had managed to destroy seven ARVN M41s before it was finally destroyed by M72 LAW anti-tank rocket launchers fielded by the South Vietnamese infantry. The NVA destroyed 18 M41 light tanks together with 31 M113 APCs and captured 17 M41s as intact, while losing only two T-54 tanks and one PT-76 tank in the armoured skirmish.


title: T-54/T-55

text: At the very end of the Vietnam War on the 30 April 1975, an NVA T-54 tank smashed through the opulent main gate of the RVN Presidential Palace in their capital city of Saigon, accompanied by onrushing North Vietnamese troops, at the conclusion of North Vietnam's conquering of the South. This widely seen image has come to be regarded by many as perhaps the defining moment of the end of the bloody 20-year-long conflict in Vietnam, and the fall of Republic of Vietnam and the imminent end of American participation in anti-communist activities in that region of Southeast Asia. According to the Pentagon, during the 1975 Spring Offensive, the ARVN forces lost 250 M48A3 tanks, 300 M41 tanks, 1,381 M113 APCs, 1,607 guns, 200 RCL guns and 63,000 M72 LAWs.


title: T-54/T-55

text: During the Vietnam war, NVA tank units were involved in 211 battles, claimed 20,000+ enemy killed, destroyed more than 2,000 enemy tanks/APCs, 870 other military vehicles, and 3,500 enemy bunkers, and shot down 35 aircraft or helicopters, overwhelmingly using T-54s. The NVA lost an estimated 250 (1972 - 150, 1973-1975 - 100) T-54s during the war.


title: T-54/T-55

text: Following the Vietnam War, Vietnam's T-54/55s and Type 59s continued to see much combat activity against neighbouring Cambodia and China to their north between 1978 and 1979. Just like many developing countries around the world which continue to operate the T-54/55, at least 900 T-54s, along with a similar number of T-55s and Type 59s, are still in active military service with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam until the present day. Some of them are slated to be replaced by the more modern T-90S/SK.


title: T-54/T-55

text: During the largest tank battle of the Ogaden War - the Battle of Jijiga (August–September 1977), 124 Somali tanks, mostly T-55s, defeated 108 Ethiopian tanks, mainly M47 Pattons and M41 Walker Bulldogs. The Ethiopians lost 43 tanks during the battle.


title: T-54/T-55

text: T-54/T-55s began appearing in Southern Africa in the late 1970s, when many emerging Marxist states, particularly Angola and Mozambique, were bolstered with modern Soviet military hardware. The T-55's dependability and ruggedness proved well-suited to the local combat environments. Survivability of opposing medium-armour vehicles deployed by UNITA and the South African Defence Force (SADF) against late model MBTs used in the Angolan Civil War remained a major concern throughout that conflict. Angolan Army T-54s were first blooded during Operation Askari, in 1981. At least five were subsequently destroyed in encounters with South African Eland or Ratel-90 armoured cars, and some were captured. Soviet sources confirm that many T-55s were penetrated by an Eland's 90 mm low-pressure gun. Nevertheless, multiple HEAT rounds were needed to guarantee sufficient damage against a T-55's frontal arc and SADF anti-tank teams forced to operate in platoons accordingly.


title: T-54/T-55

text: During the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale, another three T-55s of Angola's 21st Brigade were shot out by Ratel tank destroyers armed with ZT3 Ingwe ATGMs near the Lomba River. On 9 November 1987, an engagement between South African and Angolan tanks occurred when thirteen Olifant Mk1As eliminated two T-55s in a nine-minute skirmish. T-55s again participated in a critical engagement near Cuito Cuanavale on 14 February 1988, when Cuba's 3rd Tank Battalion counter-attacked to spare Angola's 16th Brigade virtual annihilation by 61 Mechanised Infantry Battalion Group and the 4th South African Infantry Battalion. Six T-55s were lost (three to RPGs, three to Olifants, one more was damaged), but the attack blunted the South African advance, safeguarding the cohesion of the Angolan line. Cuban and Soviet sources maintain that they destroyed ten Olifant tanks and twelve Ratels, while South African and Western sources maintain that only one Olifant and one Ratel were damaged, and one Ratel destroyed.


title: T-54/T-55

text: The Indian Army has used their T-54s and T-55s extensively in its conflicts with Pakistan between the 1970s to the 1980s. Pakistan also used some T-54As and Chinese Type 59 copies.


title: T-54/T-55

text: The first meeting of the T-55 with enemy tanks occurred in the area of Garibpur on November 22, 1971. Indian T-55 tanks (63 Cavalry) destroyed 3 Pakistani M24 Chaffee tanks (29 Cavalry) in the area.


title: T-54/T-55

text: On December 10–11, during the Battle of Nainakot, Indian T-55s (14 Cavalry Scinde Horse) in two battles destroyed 9 Pakistani M47/48 tanks (33 Cavalry), without any loss.


title: T-54/T-55

text: Battle of Basantar or the Battle of Barapind (December 4–16, 1971) was one of the vital battles fought as part of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 in the western sector of India. India had destroyed close to 46 M48 tanks and losing only 10 tanks in the process.


title: T-54/T-55

text: T-54 tanks were used during the Cambodian Civil War and the Cambodian–Vietnamese War between the 1970s to the 1980s. During the Ugandan-Tanzanian War of 1978 to 1979, Libya sent an expeditionary military force to aid Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in his conflict with Tanzania, which included the supply of a few dozen T-54/55 tanks. Some of these tanks saw action against Tanzanian forces., with at least limited success.


title: T-54/T-55

text: Polish T-55L tanks were deployed during the imposition of martial law in their country to intimidate the population (seemingly growing ever-more anti-communist) and to suppress overt displays against their communist government.


title: T-54/T-55

text: The T-55 was the most numerous tank of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA). It was the mainstay of armoured combat units during the Yugoslav Wars, where it proved vulnerable to infantry equipped with anti-tank rockets and weaponry and to misemployment in urban areas and unfriendly terrain. But there were too many of them in service for them to be replaced entirely. During the Battle of Vukovar, where the JNA grouped a large part of its tank force, a number were destroyed, almost exclusively by infantry-carried anti-tank weapons. The T-55 tank remained the most common tank in the armies of the various Yugoslavian successor states until recently and it was the most-used tank by all armies during the decades-long wars. T-55s were also used by Yugoslavia in the Kosovo War and in Macedonia during the 2001 insurgency in Macedonia, and by Russian peacekeepers after the withdrawal of Yugoslav forces from Kosovo. The Kosovo Liberation Army (National Liberation Army of Kosovo) captured a T-55 from the Macedonian army during the battle of Raduša.


title: T-54/T-55

text: The T-55 has been used by Ethiopia in the conflict with the Islamic Courts Union in Somalia and used by various warring factions in the Somali Civil War after the fall of the dictatorial Siad Barre regime in the 1990s.


title: T-54/T-55

text: China produced thousands of Type 59 tanks (based on the Soviet T-54A) for the People's Liberation Army, which were used during the Vietnam War and used en-masse against Vietnam in the Sino-Vietnamese War and sold the similar (but upgraded) Type 69 tanks to both Iran and Iraq during the Iran–Iraq War between 1980 and 1988. A considerable number saw action against Coalition forces during Operation Desert Storm in Iraq and Kuwait in January and February 1991 and during the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 (Operation Iraqi Freedom), with extremely poor showing against more-modern tanks fielded by US and British troops, such as the M1 Abrams and the Challenger 1 and Challenger 2 tanks.


title: T-54/T-55

text: The Sri Lanka Army used Czech T-55AM2s, heavily modernised variants of the Soviet T-55, during the Sri Lankan Civil War, which had concluded by May 2009, against the LTTE (Tamil Tigers) terrorist group. A T-55 belonging to the LTTE was destroyed by the Sri Lankan military on 6 April 2009, and according to local media reports, it was a model produced in Czechoslovakia and obtained by the LTTE in either 2001 or 2002.


title: T-54/T-55

text: T-55 tanks have seen use on both sides of the 2011 Libyan civil war, with anti-Gaddafi forces either stealing them or having them contributed by defecting members of the Libyan Army.


title: T-54/T-55

text: T-55s have been used by the Sudanese Armed Forces during the conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile. At least 4 were captured and 1 destroyed by the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North on 10 December 2012.


title: T-54/T-55

text: The T-55 has seen active combat service with the of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, supported by the United Nations Force Intervention Brigade (UN FIB), in 2013–14 during the campaign to suppress the March 23 Movement (M23) rebel group.


title: T-54/T-55

text: On July 7, 2014, a T-54 from a museum in Donetsk was commissioned into the armed forces of Novorossiya.


title: T-54/T-55

text: Russia announced that several T-55 tanks used by ISIL in Syria were destroyed in an air attack conducted by its forces on October 5, 2015.


title: T-54/T-55

text: Ukrainian soldiers are training with recently (October 2022) delivered 28 M-55S tanks donated by Slovenia. Model M-55S is a heavily reinforced tank and updated with NATO L7 105mm gun, upgrade armour protection, digital ballistic computer, upgraded engine etc.


title: T-54/T-55

text: The T-55 has been used worldwide by as many as 50 countries and quasi-armies. They have been subject to many improvements throughout their production history and afterward, and many are still in service today.


title: T-54/T-55

text: Modifications to the T-54/55 series over the years have changed almost every aspect of the vehicle. Initially, Soviet modifications included a better turret shape, improved NBC protection and an improved powerplant. Later, improved fire-control equipment and night-vision equipment was added.


title: T-54/T-55

text: Foreign improvements, both in Warsaw Pact nations and elsewhere, have further improved protection, powerplant, and firepower. T-54/55s have been re-armed with improved tank guns, AA machine guns, advanced armour arrays, and technologies, such as laser range finders and computerized fire control systems, that did not exist when the tank was first being built in the early days of the Cold War.


title: Gylfi Sigurðsson

text: Gylfi Þór Sigurðsson (; transliterated as Gylfi Thor Sigurdsson; born 8 September 1989) is an Icelandic professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder.


title: Gylfi Sigurðsson

text: Gylfi began his professional career with Reading in the Championship and in 2010, was sold to 1899 Hoffenheim, which was Reading's biggest sale at the time. He was voted Player of the Season for two consecutive seasons: for Reading in 2009–10 and for Hoffenheim in 2010–11. After a season back in English football with Swansea City, he joined Tottenham Hotspur for a reported £8 million transfer fee. In 2014, he moved back to Swansea as part of an exchange for Ben Davies. In 2017 he transferred to Everton for a then club-record transfer fee of £40 million, remaining there for five years.


title: Gylfi Sigurðsson

text: Gylfi played for Iceland from 2010 to 2020, earning 78 caps and scoring 25 goals. He represented the team at their first major tournament, UEFA Euro 2016, where his country reached the quarter-finals. He also played at his nation's first ever FIFA World Cup in 2018.


title: Gylfi Sigurðsson

text: Born in Reykjavík, Gylfi played for hometown side FH before joining Breiðablik and was an Icelandic under-17 international. He had spent time on trial with Preston North End before signing for Reading on an Academy scholarship on 1 October 2005. He spent three years playing for the youth and reserve teams. Prior to the 2007–08 season, he and five other youngsters were given professional contracts.


title: Gylfi Sigurðsson

text: Ahead of the 2008–09 season, Gylfi was assigned the number 34 shirt for Reading. He was an unused substitute in the club's 2–1 away win at Dagenham & Redbridge in the first round of the League Cup on 12 August. Two weeks later, he made his debut in the next round against Luton Town, entering the match as a 59th-minute substitute for James Harper in a 5–1 win at the Madejski Stadium. He scored in Reading's penalty shoot-out loss away to Stoke City in the third round after entering as a substitute.


title: Gylfi Sigurðsson

text: To gain first-team experience, Gylfi signed for Shrewsbury Town on a one-month loan spell on 16 October. Two days later, he scored on his league debut against AFC Bournemouth in a 4–1 win at the New Meadow. He made a total of six appearances during his time at Shrewsbury, scoring one goal. He returned to his parent club and featured in Reading's 2–0 loss to Cardiff City in the FA Cup third round on 3 January 2009. On 27 February, he joined Crewe Alexandra on an emergency loan move. Two days later, he made his debut against Brighton away, scoring in the 89th minute in a 4–0 win. On 24 March, his loan was extended until the end of the season. He scored two further goals for Crewe, against Milton Keynes Dons and Cheltenham Town respectively, but could not prevent the club's relegation to League Two.


title: Gylfi Sigurðsson

text: Gylfi scored his first Reading goal against Burton Albion from 35 yards out in a League Cup first round tie at home on 11 August 2009. He scored his first league goal for Reading in a 3–2 defeat at Peterborough United on 19 September 2009. Gylfi was a major contributor in Reading's extraordinary 2009–10 FA Cup run which included wins over Premier League sides Liverpool, Burnley and West Bromwich Albion. On 13 January 2010, in the third round of the FA Cup against Liverpool, he scored a penalty in injury time to make the score 1–1 and force extra time. Reading went on to win the match 2–1. He scored the winning goal in the 87th minute against Burnley in the fourth round. In the fifth round, he scored the winning goal against West Brom for a 3–2 victory in extra time. In April 2010, Gylfi won the Championship Player of the Month Award for March, edging Peter Løvenkrands of Newcastle United, Graham Dorrans of West Brom and Adel Taarabt of Queens Park Rangers, scoring five goals in six matches that month. On 2 May, Gylfi scored against Preston North End in the final match of the season. Before the match, Gylfi was named as the 2009–10 Reading Player of the Season, surpassing Jimmy Kébé and Ryan Bertrand, who finished second and third respectively.


title: Gylfi Sigurðsson

text: Gylfi finished the season with 20 goals in 44 matches in all competitions. His performances and his young age prompted several Premier League clubs to enquire over his availability, but he committed his future to Reading when he signed a three-year contract in May 2010.


title: Gylfi Sigurðsson

text: Gylfi scored his first goal of the 2010–11 season in the first match of the season when he "skipped past two players before smashing in a 25-yard equaliser" against Scunthorpe United in a 2–1 home loss. He followed this on 28 August with a short-range chip in the 22nd minute away at Leicester City. The evening after the match, the Icelandic media reported Gylfi was to travel to Germany the following Monday to undergo a medical at 1899 Hoffenheim ahead of a transfer. On 31 August, he completed a transfer to 1899 Hoffenheim, with Reading reporting the fee received exceeded their previous club record sale of £6.5 million from the sale of Kevin Doyle.


title: Gylfi Sigurðsson

text: Gylfi made his debut for 1899 Hoffenheim on 10 September 2010, coming on as a substitute with 13 minutes to go in a 2–0 win over Schalke 04. One week later, he scored his first goal for Hoffenheim in a 2–2 draw with 1. FC Kaiserslautern after coming on as a 77th-minute substitute. He scored with his first touch, a 20-yard free-kick that levelled the match. His second goal for the club was another free-kick, from 25 yards out against Mainz 05 in a 4–2 away defeat. He added another two goals to his tally in Hoffenheim's home win against Hannover 96, one of which was from the penalty spot. On 25 May 2011, Gylfi was voted as 1899 Hoffenheim's fans' Player of the Season, despite only starting 13 matches. He finished the season with ten goals and two assists.


title: Gylfi Sigurðsson

text: During the first half of the 2011–12 season, Gylfi fell out of favour with the club's new manager, making just seven league appearances and was linked with a move away from the club.


title: Gylfi Sigurðsson

text: On 1 January 2012, it was announced Gylfi would join Premier League club Swansea City on loan for the rest of the season. He made his Premier League debut for Swansea on 15 January, coming on at half-time and setting up the winning goal in a 3–2 win over Arsenal. On 4 February, Gylfi scored his first goal for the club in a 2–1 win against West Bromwich Albion. He also created Swansea's other goal for Danny Graham, taking his tally to three assists in four matches. On 3 March, he scored two goals in a 2–0 victory away at Wigan Athletic, his first from a free-kick. Two weeks later, he scored another brace in a 3–0 away win against Fulham. He scored his next goal at White Hart Lane in his team's 3–1 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur on 1 April.


title: Gylfi Sigurðsson

text: As a result of his fine form, Gylfi was named the Premier League Player of the Month for March, the first Icelander to win the award. His next goal came in a 3–0 victory over Blackburn Rovers that put the club on 42 points for the season.


title: Gylfi Sigurðsson

text: On 28 May, Swansea agreed a £6.8 million fee with 1899 Hoffenheim for the permanent transfer of Gylfi, subject to him passing a medical. However, following Swansea manager Brendan Rodgers' move to Liverpool, the deal collapsed, despite Huw Jenkins keeping hope in the deal alight. In 18 Premier League matches during his loan spell for Swansea, Gylfi scored seven goals and added four assists.


title: Gylfi Sigurðsson

text: On 4 July 2012, Gylfi joined Tottenham Hotspur from 1899 Hoffenheim for a reported £8 million transfer fee. He was the first signing for newly appointed Spurs manager André Villas-Boas. On 18 July, he scored his first goal for the club in a friendly against Stevenage after coming on as a second-half substitute. On 26 September, he scored his first competitive goal for the club in a League Cup third round tie away against Carlisle United, closing the scoring in a 3–0 win.


title: Gylfi Sigurðsson

text: Brian McDermott confirmed Reading made three unsuccessful bids to bring Gylfi back to his former club during the January 2013 transfer window, including a club record offer on deadline day thought by BBC Sport to be around £10 million. On 25 February, Gylfi scored his first Premier League goal for Tottenham, the second goal in a 3–2 win against West Ham United. In the following match, a 2–1 North London derby win against Arsenal, he provided the assist for Gareth Bale.


title: Gylfi Sigurðsson

text: In the 2013–14 season, Gylfi scored twice in a 2–0 win against Norwich City on 14 September 2013. This win took Spurs up to second in the Premier League table. Gylfi's momentum in the Tottenham team continued on 28 September 2013, scoring in a 1–1 home draw against Chelsea.


title: Gylfi Sigurðsson

text: In July 2014, Tottenham announced a deal had been reached with Swansea City for Gylfi to re-join his former club, with Swansea left-back Ben Davies joining Spurs. On the move, Gylfi said, "I really enjoyed my time here last time. I know the club, I know the manager, I know the players and I obviously know the fans and the city as well, so that wasn't that difficult for me." In the opening match of the 2014–15 season, he set up the opener and scored the winning goal as Swansea defeated Manchester United 2–1 at Old Trafford, making this the first time the "Red Devils" have lost their opening home game since 1972. Gylfi continued his good start to his Swansea return with another three assists in his next two matches. In a home match against Arsenal on 9 November 2014, Gylfi curled a free-kick over the wall and into the corner of the net from 25 yards to equalise in an eventual 2–1 win. Gylfi scored in a 4–1 away defeat against Liverpool at Anfield on 29 December.


title: Gylfi Sigurðsson

text: On 17 January 2015, a wayward pass by Gylfi allowed Chelsea's Oscar to score after 50 seconds in an eventual 5–0 home defeat for Swansea. A week later, he scored and was sent off in added time at the end of a 3–1 defeat away to Blackburn Rovers in an FA Cup fourth round tie, with Swansea already having been down to ten men after the earlier dismissal of Kyle Bartley.


title: Gylfi Sigurðsson

text: Amidst rumours of a £25 million move to Everton, Gylfi signed a new four-year contract with Swansea on 2 August 2016. He scored his first goal of the 2016–17 season on 11 September against Chelsea with a second-half penalty in a game which finished 2–2. He ended the season with 9 goals and 13 assists which helped the Swans avoid relegation. In summer 2017, Gylfi refused to participate in Swansea's pre-season tour of the United States, proclaiming he was not in right frame of mind to go with the club because of uncertainty over his future.


title: Gylfi Sigurðsson

text: On 16 August 2017, Gylfi signed for fellow Premier league side Everton for a reported £40 million transfer fee (with £5 million in potential add-ons), a club-record deal. Eight days later, he scored his first goal for Everton while making his full debut, with a shot from 50 yards in the UEFA Europa League play-off round second leg against Hajduk Split. On 26 November 2017, he scored his first Premier League goal in an Everton shirt against Southampton, but lost the match 1–4. He ended the 2017–18 season with 6 goals and 5 assists in 31 appearances.


title: Gylfi Sigurðsson

text: Gylfi started the 2018–19 season with Everton with an assist to Michael Keane in a friendly match against Valencia, while losing the match 2–3. On 29 September 2018, he scored his first brace with the club in a 3–0 victory against Fulham. On 26 December 2018, he assisted and scored a penalty in a 5–1 victory against Burnley.


title: Gylfi Sigurðsson

text: Gylfi scored his 100th goal in English football during Everton's second round EFL Cup tie against Salford City on 16 September 2020. On 20 February 2021, he scored a penalty in a 2–0 league win over Liverpool at Anfield, sealing Everton's first away win over their rivals since September 1999.


title: Gylfi Sigurðsson

text: On 10 September 2021, Gylfi was left out of Everton's final Premier League squad for the 2021–22 season. He left the club in June 2022 when his contract expired.


title: Gylfi Sigurðsson

text: Gylfi took part in the 2008 U19 European Championship qualifying, scoring twice in qualification and twice in the elite round, but Iceland lost out to group winners Bulgaria by three points and missed out on the finals. In November 2007, Gylfi made his under-21 debut for Iceland, playing 30 minutes against Germany in a 3–0 loss. He made his first appearance in the 2009 European Under-21 Championship qualifying four days later, coming as an extra-time substitute, and played in the remaining matches. In Iceland's last match, he scored the opener against Slovakia, but Slovakia's Miroslav Stoch equalised to make it 1–1. Iceland failed to qualify for the play-offs but made a bright start to the 2011 campaign. He made his campaign debut in October against San Marino, scoring two goals within 16 minutes in a 6–0 thrashing.


title: Gylfi Sigurðsson

text: In May 2010, Gylfi made his full Iceland debut in a convincing 4–0 win over Andorra and provided the assist for the second goal from a free-kick. Gylfi also helped Iceland's U21 side reach the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, playing in both play-off legs against Scotland as Iceland won 4–2 on aggregate. In the second leg, Gylfi scored two second-half goals to ensure Iceland won the match 2–1.


title: Gylfi Sigurðsson

text: On 13 October 2014, Gylfi scored both goals (one of which was a penalty) as Iceland defeated the Netherlands in a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match. In the reverse fixture the following 3 September at the Amsterdam Arena, he converted another spot-kick for the only goal of the match, after Gregory van der Wiel fouled Birkir Bjarnason.


title: Gylfi Sigurðsson

text: Gylfi was selected for UEFA Euro 2016. On 18 June, he scored Iceland's goal in their second group stage match against Hungary, a 1–1 draw at the Stade Vélodrome.


title: Gylfi Sigurðsson

text: In May 2018, Gylfi was named in Iceland's 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. During the group stage match against Croatia, he scored a penalty in the 76th minute, but Iceland lost 2–1 and were eliminated at the group stage.


title: Gylfi Sigurðsson

text: Gylfi scored twice against Romania on 8 October 2020, earning Iceland a play-off place for the chance to fight for a place at the UEFA Euro 2020 finals.


title: Gylfi Sigurðsson

text: In June 2019, Gylfi married Alexandra Ívarsdóttir (born 1989) who had been Miss Iceland in 2008. They had been dating from 2010. Through his sister, he is the uncle of Karólína Lea Vilhjálmsdóttir of the Iceland women's national football team.


title: Gylfi Sigurðsson

text: On 16 July 2021, a 31-year-old Premier League footballer was arrested "on suspicion of child sex offences" and was released on bail while investigations continued, stated Greater Manchester Police without naming the player. Everton stated that they "suspended a first-team player pending a police investigation", but did not confirm if it was the same player arrested by Greater Manchester Police. Icelandic newspaper "Morgunblaðið" reported that the player arrested for alleged child sex offences was Gylfi. Danish beverage State Energy, which had signed Gylfi only a month earlier, removed all advertising with his image on it.


title: Gylfi Sigurðsson

text: In October 2022, with Gylfi not charged but still under a travel ban, politician Njáll Trausti Friðbertsson said that he would discuss the player's case with the Foreign Affairs Committee.


title: Trade union

text: A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", such as attaining better wages and benefits (such as holiday, health care, and retirement), improving working conditions, improving safety standards, establishing complaint procedures, developing rules governing status of employees (rules governing promotions, just-cause conditions for termination) and protecting the integrity of their trade through the increased bargaining power wielded by solidarity among workers.


title: Trade union

text: Trade unions typically fund their head office and legal team functions through regularly imposed fees called "union dues". The delegate staff of the trade union representation in the workforce are usually made up of workplace volunteers who are often appointed by members in democratic elections.


title: Trade union

text: The trade union, through an elected leadership and bargaining committee, bargains with the employer on behalf of its members, known as the rank-and-file, and negotiates labour contracts (collective bargaining agreements) with employers.


title: Trade union

text: Unions may organize a particular section of skilled or unskilled workers (craft unionism), a cross-section of workers from various trades (general unionism), or an attempt to organize all workers within a particular industry (industrial unionism). The agreements negotiated by a union are binding on the rank-and-file members and the employer, and in some cases on other non-member workers. Trade unions traditionally have a constitution which details the governance of their bargaining unit and also have governance at various levels of government depending on the industry that binds them legally to their negotiations and functioning.


title: Trade union

text: Originating in Great Britain, trade unions became popular in many countries during the Industrial Revolution. Trade unions may be composed of individual workers, professionals, past workers, students, apprentices or the unemployed. Trade union density, or the percentage of workers belonging to a trade union, is highest in the Nordic countries.


title: Trade union

text: Since the publication of the "History of Trade Unionism" (1894) by Sidney and Beatrice Webb, the predominant historical view is that a trade union "is a continuous association on wage earners for the purpose of maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment." Karl Marx described trade unions thus: "The value of labour -power constitutes the conscious and explicit foundation of the trade unions, whose importance for the ... working class can scarcely be overestimated. The trade unions aim at nothing less than to prevent the reduction of wages below the level that is traditionally maintained in the various branches of industry. That is to say, they wish to prevent the price of labour -power from falling below its value" ("Capital" V1, 1867, p. 1069). Early socialists and Marxists also saw trade unions as a way to democratise the workplace. Through this democratisation, they argued, the capture of political power would be possible.


title: Trade union

text: A modern definition by the Australian Bureau of Statistics states that a trade union is "an organization consisting predominantly of employees, the principal activities of which include the negotiation of rates of pay and conditions of employment for its members."


title: Trade union

text: Recent historical research by Bob James in "Craft, Trade or Mystery" (2001) puts forward the view that trade unions are part of a broader movement of benefit societies, which includes medieval guilds, Freemasons, Oddfellows, friendly societies, and other fraternal organizations.


title: Trade union

text: The 18th-century economist Adam Smith noted the imbalance in the rights of workers in regards to owners (or "masters"). In "The Wealth of Nations", , Smith wrote:


title: Trade union

text: As Smith noted, unions were illegal for many years in most countries, although Smith argued that it should remain illegal to fix wages or prices by employees or employers. There were severe penalties for attempting to organize unions, up to and including execution. Despite this, unions were formed and began to acquire political power, eventually resulting in a body of labour law that not only legalized organizing efforts, but codified the relationship between employers and those employees organized into unions.


title: Trade union

text: Following the unification of the city-states in Assyria and Sumer by Sargon of Akkad into a single empire ruled from his home city circa 2334 BC, common Mesopotamian standards for length, area, volume, weight, and time used by artisan guilds in each city was promulgated by Naram-Sin of Akkad (c. 2254–2218 BC), Sargon's grandson, including for shekels. "Codex Hammurabi" Law 234 (c. 1755–1750 BC) stipulated a 2-shekel prevailing wage for each 60-gur (300-bushel) vessel constructed in an employment contract between a shipbuilder and a ship-owner. Law 275 stipulated a ferry rate of 3-gerah per day on a charterparty between a ship charterer and a shipmaster. Law 276 stipulated a 2-gerah per day freight rate on a contract of affreightment between a charterer and shipmaster, while Law 277 stipulated a -shekel per day freight rate for a 60-gur vessel. In 1816, an archeological excavation in Minya, Egypt (under an Eyalet of the Ottoman Empire) produced a Nerva–Antonine dynasty-era tablet from the ruins of the Temple of Antinous in Antinoöpolis, Aegyptus that prescribed the rules and membership dues of a burial society "collegium" established in Lanuvium, Italia in approximately 133 AD during the reign of Hadrian (117–138) of the Roman Empire.


title: Trade union

text: A "collegium" was any association in ancient Rome that acted as a legal entity. Following the passage of the "Lex Julia" during the reign of Julius Caesar as Consul and Dictator of the Roman Republic (49–44 BC), and their reaffirmation during the reign of Caesar Augustus as "Princeps senatus" and Imperator of the Roman Army (27 BC–14 AD), "collegia" required the approval of the Roman Senate or the Emperor in order to be authorized as legal bodies. Ruins at Lambaesis date the formation of burial societies among Roman Army soldiers and Roman Navy mariners to the reign of Septimius Severus (193–211) in 198 AD. In September 2011, archeological investigations done at the site of the artificial harbor Portus in Rome revealed inscriptions in a shipyard constructed during the reign of Trajan (98–117) indicating the existence of a shipbuilders guild. Rome's La Ostia port was home to a guildhall for a "corpus naviculariorum", a "collegium" of merchant mariners. "Collegium" also included fraternities of Roman priests overseeing ritual sacrifices, practicing augury, keeping scriptures, arranging festivals, and maintaining specific religious cults.


title: Trade union

text: While a commonly held mistaken view holds modern trade unionism to be a product of Marxism, the earliest modern trade unions predate Marx's "Communist Manifesto" (1848) by almost a century (and Marx's writings themselves frequently address the prior existence of the workers' movements of his time), with the first recorded labour strike in the United States by the Philadelphia printers in 1786. The origins of modern trade unions can be traced back to 18th-century Britain, where the rapid expansion of industrial society then taking place drew masses of people, including women, children, peasants and immigrants into cities. Britain had ended the practice of serfdom in 1574, but vast majority of people remained as tenant-farmers on estates owned by landed aristocracy. This transition was not merely one of relocation from rural to urban environs; rather, the nature of industrial work created a new class of "worker". A farmer worked the land, raised animals and grew crop, and either owned the land or paid rent, but ultimately sold a "product" and had control over his life and work. As industrial workers, however, the workers sold their work as labour and took directions from employers, giving up part of their freedom and self-agency in the service of a master. The critics of the new arrangement would call this "wage slavery", but the term that persisted was a new form of human relations: employment. Unlike farmers, workers often had less control over their jobs; without job security or a promise of an on-going relationship with their employers, they lacked some control over the work they performed or how it impacted their health and life. It is in this context, then, that modern trade unions emerge.


title: Trade union

text: In the cities, trade unions encountered a large hostility in their early existence from employers and government groups; at the time, unions and unionists were regularly prosecuted under various restraint of trade and conspiracy statutes. This pool of unskilled and semi-skilled labour spontaneously organized in fits and starts throughout its beginnings, and would later be an important arena for the development of trade unions. Trade unions have sometimes been seen as successors to the guilds of medieval Europe, though the relationship between the two is disputed, as the masters of the guilds employed workers (apprentices and journeymen) who were not allowed to organize.


title: Trade union

text: Trade unions and collective bargaining were outlawed from no later than the middle of the 14th century, when the Ordinance of Labourers was enacted in the Kingdom of England, but their way of thinking was the one that endured down the centuries, inspiring evolutions and advances in thinking which eventually gave workers more power. As collective bargaining and early worker unions grew with the onset of the Industrial Revolution, the government began to clamp down on what it saw as the danger of popular unrest at the time of the Napoleonic Wars. In 1799, the Combination Act was passed, which banned trade unions and collective bargaining by British workers. Although the unions were subject to often severe repression until 1824, they were already widespread in cities such as London. Workplace militancy had also manifested itself as Luddism and had been prominent in struggles such as the 1820 Rising in Scotland, in which 60,000 workers went on a general strike, which was soon crushed. Sympathy for the plight of the workers brought repeal of the acts in 1824, although the Combination Act 1825 severely restricted their activity.


title: Trade union

text: By the 1810s, the first labour organizations to bring together workers of divergent occupations were formed. Possibly the first such union was the General Union of Trades, also known as the Philanthropic Society, founded in 1818 in Manchester. The latter name was to hide the organization's real purpose in a time when trade unions were still illegal.


title: Trade union

text: The first attempts at setting up a national general union were made in the 1820s and 30s. The National Association for the Protection of Labour was established in 1830 by John Doherty, after an apparently unsuccessful attempt to create a similar national presence with the National Union of Cotton-spinners. The Association quickly enrolled approximately 150 unions, consisting mostly of textile related unions, but also including mechanics, blacksmiths, and various others. Membership rose to between 10,000 and 20,000 individuals spread across the five counties of Lancashire, Cheshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire within a year. To establish awareness and legitimacy, the union started the weekly "Voice of the People" publication, having the declared intention "to unite the productive classes of the community in one common bond of union."


title: Trade union

text: In 1834, the Welsh socialist Robert Owen established the Grand National Consolidated Trades Union. The organization attracted a range of socialists from Owenites to revolutionaries and played a part in the protests after the Tolpuddle Martyrs' case, but soon collapsed.


title: Trade union

text: More permanent trade unions were established from the 1850s, better resourced but often less radical. The London Trades Council was founded in 1860, and the Sheffield Outrages spurred the establishment of the Trades Union Congress in 1868, the first long-lived national trade union center. By this time, the existence and the demands of the trade unions were becoming accepted by liberal middle-class opinion. In "Principles of Political Economy" (1871) John Stuart Mill wrote:


title: Trade union

text: If it were possible for the working classes, by combining among themselves, to raise or keep up the general rate of wages, it needs hardly be said that this would be a thing not to be punished, but to be welcomed and rejoiced at. Unfortunately the effect is quite beyond attainment by such means. The multitudes who compose the working class are too numerous and too widely scattered to combine at all, much more to combine effectually. If they could do so, they might doubtless succeed in diminishing the hours of labour, and obtaining the same wages for less work. They would also have a limited power of obtaining, by combination, an increase of general wages at the expense of profits.Beyond this claim Mill also argued that, because individual workers have no basis for assessing the wages for a particular task, labor unions would lead to greater efficiency of the market system.


title: Trade union

text: British trade unions were finally legalized in 1872, after a "Royal Commission on Trade Unions" in 1867 agreed that the establishment of the organizations was to the advantage of both employers and employees.


title: Trade union

text: This period also saw the growth of trade unions in other industrializing countries, especially the United States, Germany and France.


title: Trade union

text: In the United States, the first effective nationwide labour organization was the Knights of Labor, in 1869, which began to grow after 1880. Legalization occurred slowly as a result of a series of court decisions. The Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions began in 1881 as a federation of different unions that did not directly enroll workers. In 1886, it became known as the American Federation of Labor or AFL.


title: Trade union

text: In Germany the Free Association of German Trade Unions was formed in 1897 after the conservative Anti-Socialist Laws of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck were repealed.


title: Trade union

text: In France, labour organization was illegal until 1884. The Bourse du Travail was founded in 1887 and merged with the Fédération nationale des syndicats (National Federation of Trade Unions) in 1895 to form the General Confederation of Labour (France).


title: Trade union

text: In a number of countries during the 20th century, including in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, legislation was passed to provide for the voluntary or statutory recognition of a union by an employer.


title: Trade union

text: The prevalence of labor unions can be measured by "union density", which is expressed as a percentage of the total number of workers in a given location who are trade union members. The below table shows the percentage across OECD members.


title: Trade union

text: The union density has been steadily declining from the OECD average of 35.9% in 1998 to 27.9% in the year 2018.


title: Trade union

text: The main reasons for these developments are a decline in manufacturing, increased globalization, and governmental policies.


title: Trade union

text: The decline in manufacturing is the most direct one as it generally have been low- or unskilled workers who have benefited the most from labor unions. On the other hand, there might an increase in developing nations as OECD nations exported manufacturing industries to these markets. The second reason is globalization, which makes it harder for unions to maintain standards across countries. The last reason is governmental policies. These come from both sides of the political spectrum. In the UK and US, it has been mostly right-wing proposals that make it harder for unions to form or that limit their power. On the other side, there are many policies such as minimum wage, paid vacation, maternity/paternity leave, etc., that decrease the need to be in a union.


title: Trade union

text: The prevalence of trade unions across the world is tracked by International Labor Organization. The data might differ from the ones provided by the OECD.


title: Trade union

text: The Australian labour movement generally sought to end child labour practices, improve worker safety, increase wages for both union workers and non-union workers, raise the entire society's standard of living, reduce the hours in a work week, provide public education for children, and bring other benefits to working class families.


title: Trade union

text: Melbourne Trades Hall was opened in 1859 with Trades and Labour Councils and Trades Halls opening in all cities and most regional towns in the next forty years. During the 1880s Trade unions developed among shearers, miners, and stevedores (wharf workers), but soon spread to cover almost all blue-collar jobs. Shortages of labour led to high wages for a prosperous skilled working class, whose unions demanded and got an eight-hour day and other benefits unheard of in Europe.


title: Trade union

text: Australia gained a reputation as "the working man's paradise". Some employers tried to undercut the unions by importing Chinese labour. This produced a reaction which led to all the colonies restricting Chinese and other Asian immigration. This was the foundation of the White Australia Policy. The "Australian compact", based around centralised industrial arbitration, a degree of government assistance particularly for primary industries, and White Australia, was to continue for many years before gradually dissolving in the second half of the 20th century.


title: Trade union

text: In the 1870s and 1880s, the growing trade union movement began a series of protests against foreign labour. Their arguments were that Asians and Chinese took jobs away from white men, worked for "substandard" wages, lowered working conditions and refused unionisation.


title: Trade union

text: Objections to these arguments came largely from wealthy land owners in rural areas. It was argued that without Asiatics to work in the tropical areas of the Northern Territory and Queensland, the area would have to be abandoned. Despite these objections to restricting immigration, between 1875 and 1888 all Australian colonies enacted legislation which excluded all further Chinese immigration. Asian immigrants already residing in the Australian colonies were not expelled and retained the same rights as their Anglo and Southern compatriots.


title: Trade union

text: The Barton Government which came to power after the first elections to the Commonwealth parliament in 1901 was formed by the Protectionist Party with the support of the Australian Labor Party. The support of the Labor Party was contingent upon restricting non-white immigration, reflecting the attitudes of the Australian Workers Union and other labour organisations at the time, upon whose support the Labor Party was founded.


title: Trade union

text: Armenian trade unions are still immensely impacted by the legacy left after communism. This results in not being able to properly defend employees' rights, and as a matter of fact, collective agreements exist only in individual organizations. Communism's influence on the Armenian trade unions, is the biggest obstacle on the way of further flourishment of this critical sector. Nevertheless, certain trade unions still exist and vitally contribute to the solution of this issue.


title: Trade union

text: Armenia has become a member of WTO since 2003, starting from 2004 is included in European Neighborhood Policy. The Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement makes it plausible to enhance EU-Armenia trade relationship via improving regulatory environment of business. Improvements are being made in diverse spheres including services, establishment, capital movements, operation of companies, intellectual property right and sustainable development. Regular meetings are being organized between EU representatives and Armenian government in order to monitor the ongoing situation and current progress made, discuss and apply new methods and solutions and possible cooperation in other sectors that will contribute to removing the trade barriers between EU and Armenia.


title: Trade union

text: With 65% of the workers belonging to a union, Belgium is a country with one of the highest percentages of trade union membership. Only the Scandinavian countries have a higher trade union density. The biggest union with around 1.7 million members is the Christian democrat Confederation of Christian Trade Unions (ACV-CSC) which was founded in 1904. The origins of the union can be traced back to the "Anti-Socialist Cotton Workers Union" that was founded in 1886. The second biggest union is the socialist General Federation of Belgian Labour (ABVV-FGTB) which has a membership of more than 1.5 million. The ABVV-FGTB traces its origins to 1857, when the first Belgian union was founded in Ghent by a group of weavers. This and other socialist unions became unified around 1898. The ABVV-FGTB in its current form dates back to 1945. The third major multi-sector union in Belgium is the liberal (classical liberal) union General Confederation of Liberal Trade Unions of Belgium (ACLVB-CGSLB) which is relatively small in comparison to the first two with a little under 290 thousand members. The ACLVB-CGSLB was founded in 1920 in an effort to unite the many small liberal unions. Back then the liberal union was known as the "Nationale Centrale der Liberale Vakbonden van België". In 1930, the ACLVB-CGSLB adopted its current name.


title: Trade union

text: Besides these "big three" there are a number of smaller unions, some more influential than others. These smaller unions tend to specialize in one profession or economic sector. Next to these specialized unions there is also the that rejects the pillarization of the "big three" trade unions (their affiliation with political parties). There is also a small Flemish nationalist union that exists only in the Flemish-speaking part of Belgium, called the . The last Belgian union worth mentioning is the very small, but highly active anarchist union called the .


title: Trade union

text: Canada's first trade union, the Labourers' Benevolent Association (now International Longshoremen's Association Local 273), formed in Saint John, New Brunswick in 1849. The union was formed when Saint John's longshoremen banded together to lobby for regular pay and a shorter workday. Canadian unionism had early ties with Britain and Ireland. Tradesmen who came from Britain brought traditions of the British trade union movement, and many British unions had branches in Canada. Canadian unionism's ties with the United States eventually replaced those with Britain.


title: Trade union

text: Collective bargaining was first recognized in 1945, after the strike by the United Auto Workers at the General Motors' plant in Oshawa, Ontario.


title: Trade union

text: Justice Ivan Rand issued a landmark legal decision after the strike in Windsor, Ontario, involving 17,000 Ford workers. He granted the union the compulsory check-off of union dues. Rand ruled that all workers in a bargaining unit benefit from a union-negotiated contract. Therefore, he reasoned they must pay union dues, although they do not have to join the union.


title: Trade union

text: The post-World War II era also saw an increased pattern of unionization in the public service. Teachers, nurses, social workers, professors and cultural workers (those employed in museums, orchestras and art galleries) all sought private-sector collective bargaining rights. The Canadian Labour Congress was founded in 1956 as the national trade union center for Canada.


title: Trade union

text: In the 1970s the federal government came under intense pressures to curtail labour cost and inflation. In 1975, the Liberal government of Pierre Trudeau introduced mandatory price and wage controls. Under the new law, wages increases were monitored and those ruled to be unacceptably high were rolled back by the government.


title: Trade union

text: Pressures on unions continued into the 1980s and '90s. Private sector unions faced plant closures in many manufacturing industries and demands to reduce wages and increase productivity. Public sector unions came under attack by federal and provincial governments as they attempted to reduce spending, reduce taxes and balance budgets. Legislation was introduced in many jurisdictions reversing union collective bargaining rights, and many jobs were lost to contractors.


title: Trade union

text: Prominent domestic unions in Canada include ACTRA, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the Public Service Alliance of Canada, the National Union of Public and General Employees, and Unifor. International unions active in Canada include the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, United Automobile Workers, United Food and Commercial Workers, and United Steelworkers.


title: Trade union

text: Until around 1990 Colombian trade unions were among the strongest in Latin America. However, the 1980s expansion of paramilitarism in Colombia saw trade union leaders and members increasingly targeted for assassination, and as a result Colombia has been the most dangerous country in the world for trade unionists for several decades. Between 2000 and 2010 Colombia accounted for 63.1% of trade unionists murdered globally. According to the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) there were 2832 murders of trade unionists between 1 January 1986 and 30 April 2010, meaning that "on average, men and women trade unionists in Colombia have been killed at the rate of one every three days over the last 23 years."


title: Trade union

text: In Costa Rica, trade unions first appeared in the late 1800s to support workers in a variety of urban and industrial jobs, such as railroad builders and craft tradesmen. After facing violent repression, such as during the 1934 United Fruit Strike, unions gained more power after the 1948 Costa Rican Civil War. Today, Costa Rican unions are strongest in the public sector, including the fields of education and medicine, but also have a strong presence in the agricultural sector. In general, Costa Rican unions support government regulation of the banking, medical, and education fields, as well as improved wages and working conditions.


title: Trade union

text: Trade unions in Germany have a history reaching back to the German revolution in 1848, and still play an important role in the German economy and society. In 1875 the SPD, the Social Democratic Party of Germany, which is one of the biggest political parties in Germany, at first supported the forming of unions in Germany. However, according to John A. Moses, the German trade unions were not directly affiliated with the Social Democratic Party. The SPD leadership insisted on the primacy of politics, and refused to emphasize support for union goals and methods. The unions led Carl Legien (1861-1920) developed their own nonpartisan political goals.


title: Trade union

text: In the early 1930s, according to Gerard Braunthal, the three main trade unions (Allgemeiner Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund, Allgemeiner freier Angestelltenbund, and Allgemeiner Deutscher Beamtenbund) failed to actively oppose Hitler in 1932–33. They minimized the threat in 1932 and opposed a general strike because it might spark a civil war. As the Nazis took power in 1933, the high unemployment had demoralized workers. Their historic faith in socialism gave way to a wave of nationalism. The leaders did not foresee how the Nazis would completely unseat them and suppress labor's aspirations.


title: Trade union

text: The most important labour organisation is the German Confederation of Trade Unions "(Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund – DGB)", which represents more than 6 million workers in 2011. It is the umbrella association of several single trade unions for special economic sectors. The DGB is not the only Union Organization that represents the working trade. There are smaller organizations, such as the CGB, which is a Christian-based confederation, that represent over 1.5 million workers.


title: Trade union

text: In India, the Trade Union movement is generally divided on political lines. According to provisional statistics from the Ministry of Labour, trade unions had a combined membership of 24,601,589 in 2002. As of 2008, there are 12 Central Trade Union Organisations (CTUO) recognized by the Ministry of Labour. The forming of these unions was a big deal in India. It led to a big push for more regulatory laws which gave workers a lot more power.


title: Trade union

text: A trade union with nearly 2,000,000 members is the Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) which protects the rights of Indian women working in the informal economy. In addition to the protection of rights, SEWA educates, mobilizes, finances, and exalts their members' trades. Multiple other organizations represent workers. These organizations are formed upon different political groups. These different groups allow different groups of people with different political views to join a Union.


title: Trade union

text: Trade unions emerged in Japan in the second half of the Meiji period as the country underwent a period of rapid industrialization. Until 1945, however, the labour movement remained weak, impeded by lack of legal rights, anti-union legislation, management-organised factory councils, and political divisions between "cooperative" and radical unionists. In the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, the US Occupation authorities initially encouraged the formation of independent unions. Legislation was passed that enshrined the right to organise, and membership rapidly rose to 5 million by February 1947. The organisation rate, however, peaked at 55.8% in 1949 and subsequently declined to 18.2% (2006). The labour movement went through a process of reorganisation from 1987 to 1991 from which emerged the present configuration of three major trade union federations, Rengo, Zenroren, and Zenrokyo, along with other smaller national union organisations.


title: Trade union

text: In the three Baltic countries the independent trade unions was an aspect of almost every worker's life during the period of Soviet rule from 1944 to 1991. The trade union system was closely integrated with that of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. After the regaining of national independence in 1990–1991 the trade unions in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have experienced rapid loss of membership and economic power, while employers' organisations have increased both in power and membership. Low financial and organisational capacity caused by declining membership adds to the problem of interest definition, aggregation and protection in negotiations with employers' and state organisations. Even the difference exists in the way of organization trade union and density. Starting from 2008 the union density slightly decrease in Latvia and Lithuania. In case of Estonia this indicator is lower than in Latvia and Lithuania but stays stable average 7 percent from total number of employment. Historical legitimacy is one of the negative factors that determine low associational power.


title: Trade union

text: Before the 1990s, unions in Mexico had been historically part of a state institutional system. From 1940 until the 1980s, during the worldwide spread of neoliberalism through the Washington Consensus, the Mexican unions did not operate independently, but instead as part of a state institutional system, largely controlled by the ruling party.


title: Trade union

text: During these 40 years, the primary aim of the trade unions was not to benefit the workers, but to carry out the state's economic policy under their cosy relationship with the ruling party. This economic policy, which peaked in the 1950s and 60s with the so-called "Mexican Miracle", saw rising incomes and improved standards of living but the primary beneficiaries were the wealthy.


title: Trade union

text: In the 1980s, Mexico began adhering to Washington Consensus policies, selling off state industries such as railroad and telecommunications to private industries. The new owners had an antagonistic attitude towards unions, which, accustomed to comfortable relationships with the state, were not prepared to fight back. A movement of new unions began to emerge under a more independent model, while the former institutionalized unions had become very corrupt, violent, and led by gangsters. From the 1990s onwards, this new model of independent unions prevailed, a number of them represented by the National Union of Workers / Unión Nacional de Trabajadores.


title: Trade union

text: Current old institutions like the Oil Workers Union and the National Education Workers' Union ("Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación", or SNTE) are examples of how the use of government benefits are not being applied to improve the quality in the investigation of the use of oil or the basic education in Mexico as long as their leaders show publicly that they are living wealthily. With 1.4 million members, the teachers' union is Latin America's largest; half of Mexico's government employees are teachers. It controls school curriculums, and all teacher appointments. Until recently, retiring teachers routinely "gave" their lifelong appointment to a relative or "sell" it for anywhere in between $4,700 and $11,800.


title: Trade union

text: In 2022, Sindicato independiente nacional de trabajadores trabajadoras de la industria automotriz, SINTTIA, a union backed by American and Canadian unions won a union representation election at a General Motors plant in the city of Silao. The Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM), a union affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) which had negotiated sweet-heart contracts with GM since the opening of the plant in 1995, and an allied "independent" union received only small percentages of the vote. A worker at the plant with 10 years service reported wages of 480 pesos ($23.27) for a 12-hour shift. At Volkswagen's plant in Puebla state, the union has negotiated average pay of 600 pesos ($29.15) a day for an eight-hour shift.


title: Trade union

text: Trade unions (Danish: "Fagforeninger", Norwegian: "Fagforeninger/Fagforeiningar", Swedish: "Fackföreningar", Finnish: "Ammattiliitot") have a long tradition in Scandinavian and Nordic society. Beginning in the mid-19th century, they today have a large impact on the nature of employment and workers' rights in many of the Nordic countries. One of the largest trade unions in Sweden is the Swedish Confederation of Trade Unions, (LO, "Landsorganisationen"), incorporating unions such as the Swedish Metal Workers' Union ("IF Metall" = "Industrifacket Metall"), the Swedish Electricians' Union (Svenska Elektrikerförbundet) and the Swedish Municipality Workers' Union ("Svenska Kommunalarbetareförbundet", abbreviated "Kommunal"). One of the aims of IF Metall is to transform jobs into "good jobs", also called "developing jobs". Swedish system is strongly based on the so-called Swedish model, which argues the importance of collective agreements between trade unions and employers.


title: Trade union

text: Today, the world's highest rates of union membership are in the Nordic countries. As of 2018 or latest year, the percentage of workers belonging to a union (trade union density) was 90.4% in Iceland, 67.2% in Denmark, 66.1% in Sweden, 64.4% in Finland and 52.5% in Norway, while it is unknown in Greenland, Faroe Islands and Åland. Excluding full-time students working part-time, Swedish union density was 68% in 2019. In all the Nordic countries with a Ghent system—Sweden, Denmark and Finland—union density is about 70%. The considerably raised membership fees of Swedish union unemployment funds implemented by the new center-right government in January 2007 caused large drops in membership in both unemployment funds and trade unions. From 2006 to 2008, union density declined by six percentage points: from 77% to 71%.


title: Trade union

text: During the Spanish civil war anarchists, and syndicalists took control over much of Spain. Implementing worker control through a system of libertarian socialism with organizations like the anarcho-syndicalist CNT organizing throughout Spain. Unions were particularly present in Revolutionary Catalonia, in which anarchists were already the basis for most of society with over 90% of industries being organized through work cooperatives. The republicans, anarchists and leftists would later lose control over Spain, with Francisco Franco becoming dictator of Spain.


title: Trade union

text: During the fascist regime of Spain the Francoist regime saw the worker movement and union movement as a threat, Franco banned all existing trade unions and set up the government controlled Spanish Syndical Organization as the only legal Spanish trade union, with the organization existing to maintain Franco's power.


title: Trade union

text: Many anarchists, communists and leftists turned towards insurgent tactics as Franco implemented wide reaching authoritarian policies, with the CNT and other unions being forced underground. Anarchists would operate covertly setting up local organizations and underground movements to challenge Franco. On the 20 of December the ETA assassinated Luis Carrero. The death of Carrero Blanco had numerous political implications. By the end of 1973, the physical health of Francisco Franco had declined significantly, and it epitomized the final crisis of the Francoist regime. After his death, the most conservative sector of the Francoist State, known as the búnker, wanted to influence Franco so that he would choose an ultraconservative as Prime Minister. Finally, he chose Carlos Arias Navarro, who originally announced a partial relaxation of the most rigid aspects of the Francoist State, but quickly retreated under pressure from the búnker. After Franco's death Arias Navarro began relaxing Spanish authoritarianism.


title: Trade union

text: During the Spanish transition to democracy, leftist organizations became legal once again. In modern Spain trade unions now contribute massively towards Spanish society, being again the main catalyst for political change in Spain, with cooperatives employing large parts of the Spanish population such as the Mondragon Corporation. Trade unions today lead mass protests against the Spanish government, and are one of the main vectors of political change.


title: Trade union

text: Moderate New Model Unions dominated the union movement from the mid-19th century and where trade unionism was stronger than the political labour movement until the formation and growth of the Labour Party in the early years of the 20th century.


title: Trade union

text: Trade unionism in the United Kingdom was a major factor in some of the economic crises during the 1960s and the 1970s, culminating in the "Winter of Discontent" of late-1978 and early-1979, when a significant percentage of the nation's public sector workers went on strike. By this stage, some 12,000,000 workers in the United Kingdom were trade union members. However, the election victory of the Conservative Party led by Margaret Thatcher at the 1979 general election, at the expense of Labour's James Callaghan, saw substantial trade union reform which saw the level of strikes fall.


title: Trade union

text: The level of trade union membership also fell sharply in the 1980s, and continued falling for most of the 1990s. The long decline of most of the industries in which manual trade unions were strong—e.g. steel, coal, printing, the docks—was one of the causes of this loss of trade union members.


title: Trade union

text: In 2011, there were 6,135,126 members in TUC-affiliated unions, down from a peak of 12,172,508 in 1980. Trade union density was 14.1% in the private sector and 56.5% in the public sector.


title: Trade union

text: Labor unions are legally recognized as representatives of workers in many industries in the United States. In the United States, unions were formed based on power with the people, not over the people like the government at the time. Their activity today centres 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 unions also typically engage in lobbying activities and supporting endorsed candidates at the state and federal level.


title: Trade union

text: Most unions in America are aligned with one of two larger umbrella organizations: the AFL–CIO created in 1955, and the Change to Win Federation which split from the AFL-CIO in 2005. Both advocate policies and legislation on behalf of workers in the United States and Canada, and take an active role in politics. The AFL–CIO is especially concerned with global trade issues.


title: Trade union

text: In 2010, the percentage of workers belonging to a union in the United States (or total labor union "density") was 11.4%, compared to 18.3% in Japan, 27.5% in Canada and 70% in Finland.


title: Trade union

text: The most prominent unions are among public sector employees such as teachers, police and other non-managerial or non-executive federal, state, county and municipal employees. Members of unions are disproportionately older, male and residents of the Northeast, the Midwest, and California.


title: Trade union

text: The majority of union members come from the public sector. Nearly 34.8% of public sector employees are union members. In the private sector, just 6.3% of employees are union members—levels not seen since 1932 .


title: Trade union

text: Union workers in the private sector average 10–30% higher pay than non-union in America after controlling for individual, job, and labour market characteristics. Because of their inherently governmental function, public sector workers are paid the same regardless of union affiliation or non-affiliation after controlling for individual, job, and labour market characteristics.


title: Trade union

text: Unions may organize a particular section of skilled workers (craft unionism, traditionally found in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and the US), a cross-section of workers from various trades (general unionism, traditionally found in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Netherlands, the UK and the US), or attempt to organize all workers within a particular industry (industrial unionism, found in Australia, Canada, Germany, Finland, Norway, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and the US). These unions are often divided into "locals", and united in national federations. These federations themselves will affiliate with Internationals, such as the International Trade Union Confederation. However, in Japan, union organization is slightly different due to the presence of enterprise unions, i.e. unions that are specific to a plant or company. These enterprise unions, however, join industry-wide federations which in turn are members of Rengo, the Japanese national trade union confederation.


title: Trade union

text: In Western Europe, professional associations often carry out the functions of a trade union. In these cases, they may be negotiating for white-collar or professional workers, such as physicians, engineers or teachers. Typically such trade unions refrain from politics or pursue a more liberal politics than their blue-collar counterparts.


title: Trade union

text: A union may acquire the status of a "juristic person" (an artificial legal entity), with a mandate to negotiate with employers for the workers it represents. In such cases, unions have certain legal rights, most importantly the right to engage in collective bargaining with the employer (or employers) over wages, working hours, and other terms and conditions of employment. The inability of the parties to reach an agreement may lead to industrial action, culminating in either strike action or management lockout, or binding arbitration. In extreme cases, violent or illegal activities may develop around these events.


title: Trade union

text: In other circumstances, unions may not have the legal right to represent workers, or the right may be in question. This lack of status can range from non-recognition of a union to political or criminal prosecution of union activists and members, with many cases of violence and deaths having been recorded historically.


title: Trade union

text: Unions may also engage in broader political or social struggle. Social Unionism encompasses many unions that use their organizational strength to advocate for social policies and legislation favourable to their members or to workers in general. As well, unions in some countries are closely aligned with political parties.


title: Trade union

text: Unions are also delineated by the service model and the organizing model. The service model union focuses more on maintaining worker rights, providing services, and resolving disputes. Alternately, the organizing model typically involves full-time union organizers, who work by building up confidence, strong networks, and leaders within the workforce; and confrontational campaigns involving large numbers of union members. Many unions are a blend of these two philosophies, and the definitions of the models themselves are still debated.


title: Trade union

text: In Britain, the perceived left-leaning nature of trade unions has resulted in the formation of a reactionary right-wing trade union called Solidarity which is supported by the far-right BNP. In Denmark, there are some newer apolitical "discount" unions who offer a very basic level of services, as opposed to the dominating Danish pattern of extensive services and organizing.


title: Trade union

text: In contrast, in several European countries (e.g. Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Switzerland), religious unions have existed for decades. These unions typically distanced themselves from some of the doctrines of orthodox Marxism, such as the preference of atheism and from rhetoric suggesting that employees' interests always are in conflict with those of employers. Some of these Christian unions have had some ties to centrist or conservative political movements and some do not regard strikes as acceptable political means for achieving employees' goals. In Poland, the biggest trade union Solidarity emerged as an anti-communist movement with religious nationalist overtones and today it supports the right-wing Law and Justice party.


title: Trade union

text: Although their political structure and autonomy varies widely, union leaderships are usually formed through democratic elections. Some research, such as that conducted by the Australian Centre for Industrial Relations Research and Training, argues that unionized workers enjoy better conditions and wages than those who are not unionized.


title: Trade union

text: An EU case concerning Italy stated that, "The principle of trade union freedom in the Italian system implies recognition of the right of the individual not to belong to any trade union ("negative" freedom of association/trade union freedom), and the unlawfulness of discrimination liable to cause harm to non-unionized employees."


title: Trade union

text: In Britain, previous to this EU jurisprudence, a series of laws introduced during the 1980s by Margaret Thatcher's government restricted closed and union shops. All agreements requiring a worker to join a union are now illegal. In the United States, the Taft–Hartley Act of 1947 outlawed the closed shop.


title: Trade union

text: In 2006, the European Court of Human Rights found Danish closed-shop agreements to be in breach of Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. It was stressed that Denmark and Iceland were among a limited number of contracting states that continue to permit the conclusion of closed-shop agreements.


title: Trade union

text: Union law varies from country to country, as does the function of unions. For example, German and Dutch unions have played a greater role in management decisions through participation in corporate boards and co-determination than have unions in the United States. Moreover, in the United States, collective bargaining is most commonly undertaken by unions directly with employers, whereas in Austria, Denmark, Germany or Sweden, unions most often negotiate with employers associations.


title: Trade union

text: Concerning labour market regulation in the EU, Gold (1993) and Hall (1994) have identified three distinct systems of labour market regulation, which also influence the role that unions play:


title: Trade union

text: The United States takes a more laissez-faire approach, setting some minimum standards but leaving most workers' wages and benefits to collective bargaining and market forces. Thus, it comes closest to the above Anglo-Saxon model. Also, the Eastern European countries that have recently entered into the EU come closest to the Anglo-Saxon model.


title: Trade union

text: In contrast, in Germany, the relation between individual employees and employers is considered to be asymmetrical. In consequence, many working conditions are not negotiable due to a strong legal protection of individuals. However, the German flavor or works legislation has as its main objective to create a balance of power between employees organized in unions and employers organized in employers associations. This allows much wider legal boundaries for collective bargaining, compared to the narrow boundaries for individual negotiations. As a condition to obtain the legal status of a trade union, employee associations need to prove that their leverage is strong enough to serve as a counterforce in negotiations with employers. If such an employees association is competing against another union, its leverage may be questioned by unions and then evaluated in a court trial. In Germany, only very few professional associations obtained the right to negotiate salaries and working conditions for their members, notably the medical doctors association Marburger Bund and the pilots association Vereinigung Cockpit. The engineers association Verein Deutscher Ingenieure does not strive to act as a union, as it also represents the interests of engineering businesses.


title: Trade union

text: Beyond the classification listed above, unions' relations with political parties vary. In many countries unions are tightly bonded, or even share leadership, with a political party intended to represent the interests of the working class. Typically this is a left-wing, socialist, or social democratic party, but many exceptions exist, including some of the aforementioned Christian unions. In the United States, trade unions are almost always aligned with the Democratic Party with a few exceptions. For example, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters has supported Republican Party candidates on a number of occasions and the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) endorsed Ronald Reagan in 1980. In Britain trade union movement's relationship with the Labour Party frayed as party leadership embarked on privatization plans at odds with what unions see as the worker's interests. However, it has strengthened once more after the Labour party's election of Ed Miliband, who beat his brother David Miliband to become leader of the party after Ed secured the trade union votes. Additionally, in the past, there was a group known as the Conservative Trade Unionists, or CTU, formed of people who sympathized with right wing Tory policy but were Trade Unionists.


title: Trade union

text: Historically, the Republic of Korea has regulated collective bargaining by requiring employers to participate, but collective bargaining has only been legal if held in sessions before the lunar new year.


title: Trade union

text: The oldest global trade union organizations include the World Federation of Trade Unions created in 1945.


title: Trade union

text: The largest trade union federation in the world is the Brussels-based International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), created in 2006, which has approximately 309 affiliated organizations in 156 countries and territories, with a combined membership of 166 million. The ITUC is a federation of national trade union centres, such as the AFL-CIO in the United States and the Trades Union Congress in the United Kingdom.


title: Trade union

text: National and regional trade unions organizing in specific industry sectors or occupational groups also form global union federations, such as Union Network International, the International Transport Workers Federation, the International Federation of Journalists, the International Arts and Entertainment Alliance or Public Services International.


title: Trade union

text: The academic literature shows substantial evidence that labor unions reduce economic inequality. The economist Joseph Stiglitz has asserted that, "Strong unions have helped to reduce inequality, whereas weaker unions have made it easier for CEOs, sometimes working with market forces that they have helped shape, to increase it." The decline in unionization since the Second World War in the United States has been associated with a pronounced rise in income and wealth inequality and, since 1967, with loss of middle class income.


title: Trade union

text: Research from Norway has found that high unionization rates lead to substantial increases in firm productivity, as well as increases in workers' wages. Research from Belgium also found productivity gains, although smaller. Other research in the United States has found that unions can harm profitability, employment and business growth rates. Research from the Anglosphere indicates that unions can provide wage premiums and reduce inequality while reducing employment growth and restricting employment flexibility.


title: Trade union

text: In the United States, the outsourcing of labour to Asia, Latin America, and Africa has been partially driven by increasing costs of union partnership, which gives other countries a comparative advantage in labour, making it more efficient to perform labour-intensive work there. Trade unions have been accused of benefiting insider workers and those with secure jobs at the cost of outsider workers, consumers of the goods or services produced, and the shareholders of the unionized business. Milton Friedman, economist and advocate of laissez-faire capitalism, sought to show that unionization produces higher wages (for the union members) at the expense of fewer jobs, and that, if some industries are unionized while others are not, wages will tend to decline in non-unionized industries.


title: Trade union

text: In the United States, the weakening of unions has been linked to more favorable electoral outcomes for the Republican Party. Legislators in areas with high unionization rates are more responsive to the interests of the poor, whereas areas with lower unionization rates are more responsive to the interests of the rich. Higher unionization rates increase the likelihood of parental leave policies being adopted. Republican-controlled states are less likely to adopt more restrictive labor policies when unions are strong in the state.


title: Trade union

text: Research in the United States found that American congressional representatives were more responsive to the interests of the poor in districts with higher unionization rates. Another 2020 American study found an association between US state level adoption of parental leave legislation and labor union strength.


title: Trade union

text: In the United States, unions have been linked to lower racial resentment among whites. Membership in unions increases political knowledge, in particular among those with less formal education.


title: Trade union

text: In the United States, higher union density has been associated with lower suicide/overdose deaths. Decreased unionization rates in the United States have been linked to an increase in occupational fatalities.


title: Trade union

text: Several sources of current news exist about the trade union movement in the world. These include LabourStart and the official website of the international trade union movement Global Unions. A source of international news about unions is RadioLabour which provides daily (Monday to Friday) news reports.


title: Trade union

text: "Labor Notes" is the largest circulation cross-union publication remaining in the United States. It reports news and analysis about union activity or problems facing the labour movement. Another source of union news is the "Workers Independent News", a news organization providing radio articles to independent and syndicated radio shows in the United States.


title: Twister (1996 film)

text: Twister is a 1996 American epic disaster film directed by Jan de Bont from a screenplay by Michael Crichton and Anne-Marie Martin. It was produced by Crichton, Kathleen Kennedy and Ian Bryce, with Steven Spielberg, Walter Parkes, Laurie MacDonald, and Gerald R. Molen serving as executive producers. The film stars an ensemble cast that includes Helen Hunt, Bill Paxton, Jami Gertz, Cary Elwes, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Alan Ruck, Todd Field, and Jeremy Davies as a group of amateur but spirited storm chasers trying to deploy a tornado research device during a severe outbreak in Oklahoma. "Twister" was officially released in theaters on May 10, 1996. It is notable for being the first film to be released on DVD in the United States.


title: Twister (1996 film)

text: "Twister" grossed $495 million worldwide and became the second-highest-grossing film of 1996; it sold an estimated 54.7 million tickets in the U.S. It received generally positive reviews from critics, as some praised the visual effects and sound design, but others criticized the screenplay. The film received Academy Award nominations for Best Visual Effects and Best Sound, but lost both to "Independence Day" and "The English Patient" respectively.


title: Twister (1996 film)

text: On an Oklahoma farm in 1969, young Jo Thornton and her family take shelter from a massive F5 tornado that closes in on their home, ultimately destroying their farm and killing her father, who sacrifices himself trying to hold the storm cellar door down. Twenty-seven years later, Jo is a tornado-obsessed meteorologist and leader of a rag-tag team of storm chasers, but is on the brink of divorce with Bill Harding, an ex-storm chaser turned-weatherman. Bill travels to rural Oklahoma so Jo can sign their divorce papers, also bringing his new fiancé, reproductive therapist Melissa Reeves. Though Bill has no intention of staying, he discovers that Jo has created "Dorothy", a capsule-like device filled with weather sensors that he conceptualized but never saw realized. Dorothy would be revolutionary for tornado research but has to be deployed dangerously close to a tornado for it to work. Suddenly, Jo's team rushes off to chase a developing storm, forcing Bill and Melissa to pursue them when Jo packs the unsigned papers.


title: Twister (1996 film)

text: After stopping to repair a damaged tire, Bill encounters Jonas Miller, a rival storm chaser and former colleague of Bill's, who has stolen his idea for a Dorothy-like device and plans to deploy his version first to receive sole credit. Enraged, Bill agrees to give Jo one day for her team to successfully deploy Dorothy. As the team pursues a developing F1 tornado, Bill accidentally gets Jo's vehicle stuck in a ditch. They seek shelter under a wooden bridge as the tornado destroys the truck, along with one of the four Dorothy prototypes. With more storms developing, Bill uses his own truck, a Dodge Ram, and leads the team to pursue an intensifying F2 tornado. They encounter Jonas's team once again, but Bill uses his instinct to accurately predict a sudden change in the tornado's path. While driving across a bridge, they encounter two waterspouts that ambush their truck and thrash it about violently before dissipating. Bill and Jo are unscathed, though Melissa is traumatized.


title: Twister (1996 film)

text: The team talks Jo into visiting her aunt Meg's house in the nearby town of Wakita. Over steak and eggs, Bill explains Jo's childhood story to Melissa, while Meg infers Jo is still in love with Bill and advises her to stay with him. The team learns of a developing twister and they scramble to pursue it. Jo and Bill intercept the tornado, but it turns out to be a violent F3 with highly unpredictable movements, knocking over powerlines that crush Dorothy II. With the truck damaged, Bill forces them to retreat, but Jo has a mental breakdown over the failure and argues about her motivations, her past, and her father. Bill admits he still has feelings for her, not realizing that their entire conversation is overheard by Melissa through the CB radio.


title: Twister (1996 film)

text: That night, the crew repair their vehicles in a shop next to a drive-in screening of "The Shining", where Jo finally signs the divorce papers to assuage Bill's conflicted feelings. However, the surprise appearance of an F4 tornado forces the team to seek shelter under the garage. The tornado obliterates the theater, destroys two of the team's vehicles, and injures several people, before proceeding directly toward Wakita. Just as the team hurriedly scrambles to Wakita, Melissa gently breaks up with Bill and encourages him to reunite with Jo instead.


title: Twister (1996 film)

text: Wakita, having no warning of the oncoming tornado due to its tornado sirens, is left in ruins. Though her home is flattened, Meg is rescued with minor injuries and encourages Jo to continue her work so that future warnings will be more effective. With a record-breaking F5 tornado forecasted by the National Severe Storms Laboratory to form the next day, Bill and Jo are inspired by Meg's wind vanes to add aluminum "wings" to the last two Dorothy prototype sensors, making them more aerodynamic. The next day, the team pursue the correctly-predicted mile-wide F5 tornado. Their first attempt to deploy Dorothy fails when it is destroyed by an airborne tree. Meanwhile, Jonas attempts to deploy his device, ignoring Bill and Jo's warnings to stay away from the tornado. As a result, his driver Eddie is impaled by a transmitter tower and their vehicle is swept away, killing them both in a fiery explosion. With the last remaining Dorothy affixed to the truck's bed, the two sacrifice Bill's truck by driving it directly at the tornado, setting the cruise control, and jumping out. Dorothy is successfully deployed with immediate results. However, Jo and Bill are forced to outrun the tornado on foot after it shifts toward them. They hide in a nearby pump house and strap themselves to deep pipes, getting an incredible view of the F5's core as it passes over them. After the tornado dissipates, they celebrate their success with the rest of the crew and call off their divorce.


title: Twister (1996 film)

text: Richard Lineback and Rusty Schwimmer also appear at the beginning of the film as Mr. & Mrs. Thornton, Jo's parents. Three one-time Oklahoma City television meteorologists—Gary England, then-chief meteorologist at CBS-affiliated television station KWTV; Jeff Lazalier, then a weekend meteorologist at NBC-affiliated television station KFOR-TV; and Rick Mitchell, then-chief meteorologist at ABC-affiliated television station KOCO-TV—all appear as themselves within the movie's local television news reports. The opening scene in which England appears via archival footage provided by KWTV, takes place in 1969, when England was an oceanographer for New Orleans-based A.H. Glenn and Associates; he would not be hired by KWTV until October 1972. Additionally, the weather radio operator heard toward the beginning of the movie was voiced by Andy Wallace, then-chief meteorologist at ABC-affiliated television station KSWO-TV in Lawton.


title: Twister (1996 film)

text: "Twister" was produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, with financial backing from Warner Bros. Pictures and Universal Pictures. In return, Warner Bros. was given the North American distribution rights, while Universal's joint venture distribution company United International Pictures (UIP) obtained international distribution rights. The original concept and 10-page tornado-chaser story were presented to Amblin Entertainment in 1992, written by Jeffrey Hilton under the title "Catch the Wind". Steven Spielberg was intrigued by the idea and presented the concept to writer Michael Crichton. Crichton and his wife, Anne-Marie Martin, were paid a reported $2.5 million to write the screenplay, which made "Twister" the single most expensive screenplay ever written at that time.


title: Twister (1996 film)

text: Spielberg himself was originally attached to direct the project, and directors such as James Cameron, John Badham, Tim Burton, and Robert Zemeckis were also in talks to helm the film before Jan de Bont signed on to "Twister" after leaving "Godzilla" due to creative differences. He recently had a huge hit after directing his first film, "Speed", which was released in 1994. The Dutch filmmaker's resume as a director of photography had included "Die Hard" and "The Hunt for Red October". Also, one of the main characters, Bill Harding, was set to be played by Tom Hanks, however, he dropped out of the film and would later work on "That Thing You Do!" as writer and director instead, saying that "an action movie wasn't what I wanted to do at that point in my career." While working on "Apollo 13", Hanks suggested the role to his co-star, Bill Paxton. He was hired based in part on the recommendation of his friend and frequent collaborator James Cameron, and De Bont liked that Paxton was actually experienced with Oklahoma. Meanwhile, Helen Hunt chose not to play Terry Carmichael in "Broken Arrow" and would instead play Jo Thornton-Harding after Laura Dern declined on playing that role.


title: Twister (1996 film)

text: The production was plagued with problems: Joss Whedon was brought in to rewrite through the early spring of 1995. When Whedon contracted bronchitis, Steven Zaillian was brought in to work on script revisions. Whedon later returned and worked on revisions right through the start of shooting in May 1995, then left the project after he got married. Two weeks into production, Jeff Nathanson was flown to the set and worked on the script until principal photography ended. After the Oklahoma City bombing occurred on April 19, 1995, filming of "Twister" was suspended while the cast and crew worked with relief efforts.


title: Twister (1996 film)

text: There was a scene where Dusty was laughing heartily and leaning back, lifting one of his legs. The earliest cut of the film had a brief moment where his genitalia were visible. As a result, the CGI crew had to hastily augment the shot.


title: Twister (1996 film)

text: Filming was to originally take place in the United Kingdom and California, but De Bont insisted the film be shot on location in Oklahoma because he felt that Twister could be "the last great action movie not shot on a soundstage". Shooting commenced all over the state; several scenes, including the opening scene where the characters meet each other, as well as the first tornado chase in the Jeep pickup, were filmed in Fairfax and Ralston, Oklahoma. The scene at the automotive repair shop was filmed in Maysville and Norman. The waterspout scenes were filmed on Kaw Lake near Kaw City. The drive-in scene was filmed at a real drive-in theater in Guthrie, though some of the scene, such as Melissa's hotel room, was filmed in Stillwater near the Oklahoma State University campus. The films played at the drive-in theater were "The Shining" and "Psycho" as part of the Night of Horrors combo.