Editing Trade union (section)

===Legalization, expansion and recognition===
[[File:1912 Lawrence Textile Strike 1.jpg|thumb|Trade union demonstrators held at bay by soldiers during the 1912 [[Lawrence textile strike]] in [[Lawrence, Massachusetts]]]]
[[British Empire|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.

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

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.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1357701/trade-union|title=Trade union|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|date=13 March 2024 }}</ref> The [[Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions]] began in 1881 as a federation of different unions that did not directly enrol workers. In 1886, it became known as the [[American Federation of Labor]] or AFL.

In Germany, the [[Free Association of German Trade Unions]] was formed in 1897 after the [[conservativism|conservative]] [[Anti-Socialist Laws]] of Chancellor [[Otto von Bismarck]] were repealed.

In France, labour organisation was illegal until the [[1884 Waldeck Rousseau laws]]. The [[Fédération des bourses 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)|General Confederation of Labour]].

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.<ref>{{cite journal | last = Townshend-Smith | first = R | date = 1981 | title = Trade union recognition legislation – Britain and America compared | journal = Legal Studies | volume = 1 | issue = 2 | pages = 190–212 | doi = 10.1111/j.1748-121X.1981.tb00120.x| s2cid = 145725063 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last = Briggs | first = C. | date = 2007 | title = Statutory Union Recognition in North America and the UK: Lessons for Australia? | journal = The Economic and Labour Relations Review | volume = 17 | issue = 2 |pages = 77–97 | doi = 10.1177/103530460701700205 | s2cid = 153980466 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last = Goodard | first = J. | date = 2013 | title = Labour Law and Union Recognition in Canada: A Historical-Institutionalist Perspective | journal = Queen's Law Journal | volume = 38 | issue = 2| pages = 391–417}}</ref>