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to organize union

to organize union

4.3
To form a group of workers to represent and protect their rights
  • phrasal verb
  • /ˈɔrɡəˌnaɪz ˈjunɪn/
  • US
translation icon : organizar un sindicato
  • Workers organized unions and eventually a political party, while women formed a broadly based social movement seeking equality and especially the right to vote.

Examples

  • Workers decided to organize union efforts to improve their working conditions.

  • The employees agreed to organize union meetings to discuss their rights.

  • However, Minor's illustration makes clear that it is only through organized unions, specifically that of the Communist-aligned Federated Farmer-Labor Party, that freedom from oppression could be realized.

    Academic text (2002)
  • To address issues like unfair wages, they planned to organize union representation for all workers.

Synonyms

to organize
vsto organize union
  • US
381 2.3

Help people form a group to act together for a common goal

is specific to forming a workers' association to represent and protect employees
to unionize
vsto organize union
  • US
22 5.8

To join or form a group of workers that speaks to their employer about pay and work conditions

is focused on forming a formal group specifically to protect workers' interests

Antonyms

43 4.3

To stop being a group, for example a band or committee

How Established

to certify
  • Formal
192 3.9
to organize union
  • US
4.3

Surface Forms

organize union infinitive
organized union past participle
organizing union present participle
organizes union third person singular

Morphology

organize + union

The meaning is a direct composition of 'organize' (to bring people together into a formal group) and 'union' (a workers' organization), so a learner who knows both words can readily infer 'to form/establish a labor union.' The construction follows a common verb + noun pattern (often realized as 'organize a union'), and this logic is cross-linguistically familiar, so it should be immediately comprehensible to a B1 learner.

Etymology

Organize union comes from the image of workers arranging meetings, signing up, and joining hands to make a union. Organize means to put people and plans in order and a union is a group that stands together to protect workers, so the phrase means 'to form a labor union'.