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Glite Dictionary
union member

union member

28 1.8
A person who belongs to a group of workers who protect pay and working conditions
  • noun
  • /ˈjunɪən ˈmɛmbər/
translation icon : miembro del sindicato
  • As a union member, she was able to access job-training programs and legal support.
  • labor union member
  • Trade union members
  • worker union members

The trouble is that means we are no longer union members.

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Examples

  • Consequently, most union members prefer layoffs of the junior union members to cuts in their wages or hours.

    Blog text (9)

  • I've had family members who were union members in the manufacturing sector.

    Blog text (13)

  • You better thank a union member for the five day work week.

  • Is this how you treat your union members?

    Chicago Massacre: Richard Speck (2007)

  • I need to speak to the union members.

    Wall Street (1987)

  • Indeed, today less than 12 percent of private sector workers are union members.

    Academic text (1994)

  • Managers now have, if anything, less security than union members.

    Academic text (1990)

  • Employers tend to treat all employees, whether union members or not, the same way.

    Academic text (1990)

  • About one in three jobs was in state, county, municipal, or government agencies; public employees are frequently union members.

    Academic text (2006)

  • Today, only 11.8 percent of American workers are union members; in the private sector, just 6.9 percent.

    Blog text (1)

Synonyms

trade unionist
vsunion member
1 3.8

A person who helps workers get better pay and safer jobs

is represented by the organization and not necessarily active in promotion

Antonyms

nonunion
1 4.3

A worker who does not belong to a union

How Union-Connected

labor leader
  • US
10 3.2
union member
28 1.8
nonmember
4 3.4

Surface Forms

union member singular
union members plural

Morphology

union + member

The meaning 'a person who belongs to a trade union' is directly and compositionally derived from 'union' (workers' organization) + 'member' (person in a group). This straightforward noun+noun combination follows common cross-linguistic patterns, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily understand the MWE.

Etymology

Union member comes from the simple image of people joining together. A union is a group of workers who join for a common aim and a member is someone in that group, so a union member is 'a person who belongs to that group and is supported by it'.