美國的工會受法律認可為代表勞工利益的組織。工會行使集體協商權，為會員談判勞動條件、工資、福利；並監督、糾正雇主違法或違背勞動契約的管理行為，必要時以爭議行為作為談判籌碼。較大的工會還會透過政治遊說或競選，影響美國聯邦政府及各州政治人物的決策。

大多數美國的工會都是兩個大型工會聯盟的會員工會，分別是1955年成立的美國勞工聯合會-產業工會聯合會（AFL-CIO），與2005年自AFL-CIO分家的。兩者都主張自己代表美國和加拿大勞工的政治利益，積極從事政治遊說工作。其中，AFL-CIO特別關注全球貿易議題。

1983年時，美國的工會共有1,770萬名會員，工會組織率為20.1%；然而2013年卻僅剩1,450萬名會員，工會組織率僅有10.8% 民營事業單位的工會組織率甚至僅有7%，創下1932年來的最低紀錄。與其它國家相比，2013年時法國的工會組織率為7.7%、德國為18.1%、加拿大為27.1%，冰島更以85.5%的工會組織率冠居全球。以統計數字而言，美國勞工參與工會的比例顯著偏低。美國的工會組織率與雖大幅滑落，但仍能透過群眾動員或跨領域結盟（例如與移民權益、貿易政策、健康照顧與維生工資等議題團體合作），對美國政治有一定程度的影響力。其中，美國的工會尤其關注各級政府因預算縮減，產生勞工退休金減少或延遲給付等問題。 如有茶黨背景的共和黨籍斯考特·沃克就曾透過刪減預算限制公部門工會的集體協商權。

21世紀的美國工會運動以公部門受僱者，如公務員、教師、消防員、警察、清潔隊員等勞工為主力。此外，工會會員不成比例地以年長、男性勞工居多，且以美國東北部、中西部及加州勞工為主。 整體而言，一個美國工會若能掌握工作和勞動市場特性，平均而言能讓工會會員比非會員多10－30%工資；而在工會組織率較高的州，其勞工比其它州份的勞工有較高的收入和生活水準。國際貨幣基金組織則進一步將美國的收入差距問題，歸因於美國整體的勞工運動與工會組織率衰退所致。

歷史 

19世紀中葉，工業革命對人類經濟、社會帶來巨大變革，勞資關係逐漸受到社會矚目，工會也隨之誕生。美國早期的工會誕生於南北戰爭之後，1880年代的是美國最具影響力的勞工團體，但因組織鬆散、缺乏有效領導中心和組織目標不一致等因素，並受到資方和政府聯手打壓而解散。

1886年，龔帕斯創立美國勞工聯合會，創立時仍是不同職種的地方工會組成的鬆散團體，透過協調、支持勞工罷工發展茁壯，如今已是美國最具影響力的工會團體。

1930年代，美國第32任總統富蘭克林·德拉諾·羅斯福推行新政，其中《華格納法案》保障工會的組織權利，促使美國勞工擴大團結、提升組織率。因此，美國的工會在政治上多傾向民主黨，在羅斯福時期更加入新政聯盟，支持羅斯福勝選連任。

二戰後 
1946年，親商的保守派政治人物在選舉中大勝，美國國會在1947年通過共和黨籍參議員羅伯特·A·塔夫脫起草的《》。該法案不只受到共和黨人支持，連多數民主黨人也贊成該法案；即使時任美國第33任總統的哈瑞·杜魯門動用否決權，仍遭跨黨派議員組成的推翻。《塔夫特-哈特萊法案》禁止工會向候選人提供政治獻金、以「危害國家安全」之名提高工會發動罷工的門檻，並強迫工會除名有共產主義傾向的幹部（後美國最高法院裁定該條款違憲，不再適用）；因而遭到美國工運圈強力抵制，但仍無力回天。國會在1959年通過《》，要求美國各級工會需向美國勞工部繳交年度報告，以限制有犯罪前科者擔任工會管理職務，從而加強聯邦政府對國際卡車司機工會等工會的行政控制。

美國的工會組織率在1954年達到高峰，為35%；而工會會員人數則以1979年最多，達2,100萬人。其後人數因民營部門工會組織不易逐年下滑。

參見 
 Labor federation competition in the United States
 Union affiliation by U.S. state
 Public-sector trade unions in the United States
歷史
 
 
 
 
國際
 世界產業工人

參考文獻

參考書目

調查報告 
 Arnesen, Eric, ed. Encyclopedia of U.S. Labor and Working-Class History (2006), 3 vol; 2064pp; 650 articles by experts excerpt and text search 
 Beard, Mary Ritter. A Short History of the American Labor Movement 1920 - 176 pages online edition 
 Beik, Millie, ed. Labor Relations: Major Issues in American History (2005) over 100 annotated primary documents excerpt and text search 
  Boris, Eileen, and Nelson Lichtenstein, eds. Major Problems In The History Of American Workers: Documents and Essays (2002)
  Brody, David. In Labor's Cause: Main Themes on the History of the American Worker (1993) excerpt and text search 
 Browne, Waldo Ralph. What's what in the Labor Movement: A Dictionary of Labor Affairs and Labor (1921) 577pp; encyclopedia of labor terms, organizations and history. complete text online 
 Dubofsky, Melvyn, and Foster Rhea Dulles. Labor in America: A History (2004), textbook, based on earlier textbooks by Dulles.
 Dubofsky, Melvyn, and Warren Van Tine, eds. Labor Leaders in America (1987) biographies of key leaders, written by scholars excerpt and text search 
 LeBlanc, Paul. A Short History of the U.S. Working Class: From Colonial Times to the Twenty-First Century (1999), 160pp excerpt and text search 
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 Taylor, Paul F.  The ABC-CLIO Companion to the American Labor Movement (1993)  237pp; short encyclopedia
 Zieger, Robert H.,  and Gilbert J. Gall, American Workers, American Unions: The Twentieth Century(3rd ed. 2002) excerpt and text search 
 Zieger, Robert H. For Jobs and Freedom: Race and Labor in America Since 1865 (2007) excerpt and text search

1900年 
 Commons, John R. History of Labour in the United States - vol 1 and Vol. 2 1860-1896 (1918) vol 2 online edition  (note spelling of "Labour")
 Commons, John R.  "American Shoemakers, 1648-1895: A Sketch of Industrial Evolution," Quarterly Journal of Economics 24 (November, 1909), 39-83. in JSTOR 
 Commons, John R. ed. Trade Unionism and Labor Problems (1905) articles by experts on unions and working condition online edition 
 Grob, Gerald N. Workers and Utopia: A Study of Ideological Conflict in the American Labor Movement, 1865-1900 (1961) online edition 
 Hall, John P. "The Knights of St. Crispin in Massachusetts, 1869-1878," Journal of Economic History 18 (June, 1958), p 161-175 in JSTOR 
 Laslett, John H. M. Labor and the Left: A Study of Socialist and Radical Influences in the American Labor Movement, 1881-1924 (1970) online edition 
 Mandel, Bernard. Samuel Gompers: A Biography (1963) online edition 
 Orth, Samuel P. The Armies of Labor: A Chronicle of the Organized Wage-Earners (1919) short popular overview online edition
 Taillon, Paul Michel. Good, Reliable, White Men: Railroad Brotherhoods, 1877-1917 (2009)
 Taft, Philip Taft and Philip Ross, "American Labor Violence: Its Causes, Character, and Outcome," in The History of Violence in America: A Report to the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence, ed. Hugh Davis Graham and Ted Robert Gurr, 1969. online edition 
 Van Tine, Warren R. The Making of the Labor Bureaucrat: Union Leadership in the United States, 1870-1920 (1973) online edition
 Voss, Kim. The Making of American Exceptionalism: The Knights of Labor and Class Formation in the Nineteenth Century (1993) online edition 
 Weir, Robert E. Beyond Labor's Veil: The Culture of the Knights of Labor (1996) online edition 
 Bibliography of online resources on railway labor in late 19th century

1900年–1932年 
 Bernstein, Irving. The Lean Years: A History of the American Worker, 1920-33 (1966)
 Brody, David. Labor in Crisis: The Steel Strike of 1919 (1965)
 Dubofsky, Melvyn and Warren Van Tine. John L. Lewis: A Biography (1986)
 Brody, David. Labor in Crisis: The Steel Strike of 1919 (1965)
 Faue, Elizabeth. Community of Suffering & Struggle: Women, Men, and the Labor Movement in Minneapolis, 1915-1945 (1991)
 Fraser, Steve. Labor Will Rule: Sidney Hillman and the Rise of American Labor (1993)
 Gordon, Colin. New Deals: Business, Labor, and Politics, 1920-1935 (1994)
 Greene, Julie . Pure and Simple Politics: The American Federation of Labor and Political Activism, 1881-1917 (1998)
 Hooker, Clarence. Life in the Shadows of the Crystal Palace, 1910-1927: Ford Workers in the Model T Era (1997)
 Laslett, John H. M. Labor and the Left: A Study of Socialist and Radical Influences in the American Labor Movement, 1881-1924 (1970)
 Karson, Marc. American Labor Unions and Politics, 1900-1918 (1958)
 McCartin, Joseph A. Labor's Great War: The Struggle for Industrial Democracy and the Origins of Modern American Labor Relations, 1912-1921 (1997)
 Mandel, Bernard. Samuel Gompers: A Biography (1963)
 Meyer, Stephen. The Five Dollar Day: Labor Management and Social Control in the Ford Motor Company, 1908-1921 (1981)
 Mink, Gwendolyn. Old Labor and New Immigrants in American Political Development: Union, Party, and State, 1875-1920 (1986)
 Orth, Samuel P. The Armies of Labor: A Chronicle of the Organized Wage-Earners (1919) short overview
 Quint, Howard H. The Forging of American Socialism: Origins of the Modern Movement (1964)
 Warne, Colston E. ed. The Steel Strike of 1919 (1963), primary and secondary documents
 Zieger, Robert. Republicans and Labor, 1919-1929. (1969)

早期文獻 
 Gompers, Samuel. Seventy Years of Life and Labor: An Autobiography (1925)

1932年 - 1955年 
 Bernstein, Irving. Turbulent Years: A History of the American Worker, 1933-1941 (1970)
 Boyle, Kevin. The UAW and the Heyday of American Liberalism, 1945-1968 (1995)
 Campbell, D'Ann. "Sisterhood versus the Brotherhoods: Women in Unions" Women at War With America: Private Lives in a Patriotic Era (1984).
 Dubofsky, Melvyn and Warren Van Time John L. Lewis (1986).
 Faue, Elizabeth. Community of Suffering & Struggle: Women, Men, and the Labor Movement in Minneapolis, 1915-1945 (1991), social history
 Fraser, Steve. Labor Will Rule: Sidney Hillman and the Rise of American Labor (1993).
 Galenson, Walter. The CIO Challenge to the AFL: A History of the American Labor Movement, 1935-1941 (1960)
 Gordon, Colin. New Deals: Business, Labor, and Politics, 1920-1935 (1994)
 Jensen, Richard J. "The Causes and Cures of Unemployment in the Great Depression," Journal of Interdisciplinary History 19 (1989) p. 553-83
 Kennedy, David M. Freedom From Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945. (1999) recent narrative.
 Lichtenstein, Nelson. Labor's War at Home: The CIO in World War II (2003)
 Lichtenstein, Nelson. The Most Dangerous Man in Detroit: Walter Reuther and the Fate of American Labor (1995)
 Miller, Sally M., and Daniel A. Cornford eds. American Labor in the Era of World War II (1995), essays by historians, mostly on California
 Seidman; Joel. Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen: The Internal Political Life of a National Union (1962)
 Vittoz, Stanley. New Deal Labor Policy and the American Industrial Economy (1987)
 Zieger, Robert H. The CIO, 1935-1955 (1995)

公平就業委員會 
 Collins, William J. "Race, Roosevelt, and Wartime Production: Fair Employment in World War II Labor Markets," American Economic Review 91:1 (March 2001), pp. 272–286
 Kersten, Andrew Edmund. Race, Jobs, and the War: The FEPC in the Midwest, 1941-46 (2000) online review
 Reed, Merl E.  Seedtime for the Modern Civil Rights Movement: The President's Committee on Fair Employment Practice, 1941-1946 (1991)

塔夫特-哈特萊法案與全國勞工關係法 
 Abraham, Steven E. "The Impact of the Taft-Hartley Act on the Balance of Power in Industrial Relations" American Business Law Journal Vol. 33, 1996
 Ballam, Deborah A. "The Impact of the National Labor Relations Act on the U.S. Labor Movement" American Business Law Journal, Vol. 32, 1995
 Brooks, George W., Milton Derber, David A. McCabe, Philip Taft. Interpreting the Labor Movement (1952)
 Gall, Gilbert J. The Politics of Right to Work: The Labor Federations as Special Interests, 1943-1979 (1988)
 Hartley Jr. Fred A., and Robert A. Taft. Our New National Labor Policy: The Taft-Hartley Act and the Next Steps (1948)
 Lee, R. Alton. Truman and Taft-Hartley: A Question of Mandate (1966)
 Millis, Harry A., and Emily Clark Brown. From the Wagner Act to Taft-Hartley: A Study of National Labor Policy and Labor Relations (1950)

早期文獻 
 Christman, Henry M. ed. Walter P. Reuther: Selected Papers (1961)

1955年至今 
 Bennett, James T., and Bruce E. Kaufman. What do unions do?: a twenty-year perspective (2007)
 Dark; Taylor E. The Unions and the Democrats: An Enduring Alliance (1999)
 Dine, Philip. State of the Unions: How Labor Can Strengthen the Middle Class, Improve Our Economy, and Regain Political Influence (2007)
 Fantasia, Rick, and Kim Voss. Hard Work: Remaking the American Labor Movement (2004)
 Galenson, Walter; The American Labor Movement, 1955-1995 (1996)
 Goldberg, Arthur J. AFL-CIO, Labor United (1956)
 Leiter, Robert D. The Teamsters Union: A Study of Its Economic Impact (1957)
 Lichtenstein, Nelson. "Two Roads Forward for Labor: The AFL–CIO's New Agenda." Dissent 61.1 (2014): 54-58. Online
 Lipset, Seymour Martin, ed. Unions in Transition: Entering the Second Century (1986)
 Mort, Jo-Ann, ed. Not Your Father's Union Movement: Inside the AFL-CIO" (2002)
 Rosenfeld, Jake. What Unions No Longer Do. (Harvard University Press, 2014) ISBN 0674725115
 Yates, Michael D. Why Unions Matter (2009)

外部連結 
 AFL-CIO official Web site 
 Change to Win Federation official Web site 
 The Challenges of Today's Labor Unions 
 The Cost of a Decline in Unions  (February 2015), Nicholas Kristof, The New York Times
 The incredible decline of American unions, in one animated map  (February 2015), Ana Swanson, The Washington Post
 What Happened to Unions in the Midwest?  (Feb. 2015), Melanie Trottman and Eric Morath, The Wall Street Journal
 Unions still matter  (April 2015),  Sean McElwee, Al Jazeera America.
 Americans Don't Miss Manufacturing – They Miss Unions . FiveThirtyEight, May 13, 2016.

 
美國勞資關係