Meanings
plural trade unions · plural trades unions · alternative UK trades union
- An organization whose members belong to the same trade and that acts collectively to address common issues.
1 more example
When the first wave of postwar immigrants arrived in Britain in the 1950s and ’60s, it was a period of rising wages, full employment, an expanding welfare state and strong trade unions. Today, Britain’s manufacturing base has all but disappeared, working-class communities have disintegrated, unions have been neutered and the welfare state has begun to crumble.
2013 September 28, Kenan Malik, “London Is Special, but Not That Special”, in New York TimesSynonyms: union, labour union, labor union
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn organization whose members belong to the same trade and that acts collectively to address common issues.
More synonyms by meaning
nounan organization of employees formed to bargain with the employer
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Afrikaans vakbond, unie
- vakbondorganization
- unieorganization
Arabic نَقَابَة, نَقَابَة عُمَّال
- نَقَابَة (naqāba)organization
- نَقَابَة عُمَّال (naqābat ʕummāl)organization
- اِتِّحَاد نَقَابَة عُمَّال (ittiḥād naqābat ʕummāl)organization
- نَقَابَة عُمَّالِيَّة (naqāba ʕummāliyya)organization
Basque sindikatu
- sindikatuorganization
Bulgarian професиона́лен съю́з, профсъю́з
- професиона́лен съю́з (profesionálen săjúz)organization
- профсъю́з (profsăjúz)organization
Catalan sindicat
- sindicatorganization
Chinese Cantonese 工會 /工会, 職工會 /职工会
- 工會 /工会organization
- 職工會 /职工会organization
Chinese Mandarin 工會 /工会, 職工會 /职工会
- 工會 /工会 (gōnghuì)organization
- 職工會 /职工会organization
Czech odbory
- odboryorganization
Danish fagforening
- fagforeningorganization
Dutch vakbond
- vakbondorganization
Esperanto sindikato
- sindikatoorganization
Estonian ametiühing
- ametiühingorganization
Finnish ammattiyhdistys, ammattiliitto
- ammattiyhdistysorganization
- ammattiliittoorganization
French syndicat, syndicat de métier
- syndicatorganization
- syndicat de métierorganization
- syndicat professionnelorganization
German Gewerkschaft
- Gewerkschaftorganization
Greek συνδικάτο
- συνδικάτο (syndikáto)organization
Hebrew איגוד מקצועי, אִגוּד מִקְצוֹעִי
- איגוד מקצועיorganization
- אִגוּד מִקְצוֹעִי (igúd miktso'í)organization
Hindi श्रमिक संघ, ट्रेड यूनियन
- श्रमिक संघ (śramik saṅgh)organization
- ट्रेड यूनियन (ṭreḍ yūniyan)organization
Hungarian szakszervezet
- szakszervezetorganization
Icelandic stéttarfélag
- stéttarfélagorganization
Indonesian serikat buruh
- serikat buruhorganization
Irish ceardchumann
- ceardchumannorganization
Italian sindacato
- sindacatoorganization
Japanese 労働組合, 労組
- 労働組合 (rōdō kumiai)organization
- 労組organization
Korean 노동조합, 로동조합
- 노동조합 (nodongjohap)organization
- 로동조합 (rodongjohap)organization
- 노조 (nojo)organization
- 로조 (rojo)organization
Latvian arodbiedrība
- arodbiedrībaorganization
Lithuanian profesinė sąjunga, profsąjunga
- profesinė sąjungaorganization
- profsąjungaorganization
Malay kesatuan sekerja
- kesatuan sekerjaorganization
Norwegian Bokmål fagforening
- fagforeningorganization
Polish związek zawodowy
- związek zawodowyorganization
Portuguese sindicato
- sindicatoorganization
Romanian sindicat comercial, sindicat
- sindicat comercialorganization
- sindicatorganization
Russian профсою́з, профессиона́льный сою́з
- профсою́з (profsojúz)organization
- профессиона́льный сою́з (professionálʹnyj sojúz)organization
- тред-юнио́н (trɛd-junión)organization
Slovak odbory
- odboryorganization
Spanish sindicato
- sindicatoorganization
Swedish fackförening, fack
- fackföreningorganization
- fackorganization
Tagalog unyon, unyong manggagawa
- unyonorganization
- unyong manggagawaorganization
- samahang manggagawaorganization
- kaisahanorganization
Thai สหภาพแรงงาน
- สหภาพแรงงาน (sà-hà-pâap-rɛɛng-ngaan)organization
Turkish sendika
- sendikaorganization
Ukrainian профспі́лка, професі́йна спі́лка
- профспі́лка (profspílka)organization
- професі́йна спі́лка (profesíjna spílka)organization
Urdu اِتِّحادِ صَنْعَتی, ٹْریڈ یُونِیَن
- اِتِّحادِ صَنْعَتی (ittihād-i san'atī)organization
- ٹْریڈ یُونِیَن (ṭreḍ yūniyan)organization
Vietnamese công đoàn
- công đoànorganization
Yiddish פֿאַרבאַנד, פֿאַראיין
- פֿאַרבאַנד (farband)organization
- פֿאַראיין (fareyn)organization
- יוניאָן (yunyon)organization
Cite this entry
trade union. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trade%20union
“trade union.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trade%20union. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “trade union,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trade%20union.
Source: trade union on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.