What is an “industrial union”?

The term "industrial union" characterizes a type of union that crosses craft and occupational boundaries within an industry. For example, instead of workers in a factory belonging to different unions based on their skill, craft, or occupation, everyone in the factory belongs to the same union. This kind of organization gives the members the power of unity rather than being fragmented into different groups. Mining and the textile industry were particularly open to organization by industrial unions.

Examples of early industrial unions were the Western Federation of Miners, which led workers in a serious strike in Rossland, British Columbia, in 1901, and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), which was an American-based international union in the resource industry.

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