What is Labour?
The aggregate of all human physical and mental effort used in creation of goods and services. Labour is a primary factor of production. The size of a nation’s labour force is determined by the size of its adult population, and the extent to which the adults are either working or are prepared to offer their labour for wages.
Labour Force or Work Force
The workforce or labour force is the labour pool in employment. It is generally used to describe those working for a single company or industry, but can also apply to a geographic region like a city, state, country, etc. The workforce of a country includes both the employed and the unemployed. The labour force participation rate, LFPR (or economic activity rate, EAR), is the ratio between the labour force and the overall size of their cohort (national population of the same age range). The term generally excludes the employers or management, and can imply those involved in manual labour. It may also mean all those that are available for work.
Labour Union or Trade Union
Labour Union is an organization of workers who have come together to achieve common goals such as protecting the integrity of its trade, improving safety standards, achieving higher pay and benefits such as health care and retirement, increasing the number of employees an employer assigns to complete the work, and better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members (rank and file members) and negotiates labour contracts (collective bargaining) with employers. The most common purpose of these associations or unions is maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment. This may include the negotiation of wages, work rules, complaint procedures, rules governing hiring, firing and promotion of workers, benefits, workplace safety and policies.
Labour Relations
Labour relations are the study and practice of managing unionized employment situations. In academia, labour relations is frequently a subarea within industrial relations, though scholars from many disciplines–including economics, sociology, history, law, and political science–also study labour unions and labour movements. In practice, labour relations are frequently a subarea within human resource management. Courses in labour relations typically cover labour history, labour law, union organising, bargaining, contract administration, and important contemporary topics.
