Definition

1. Verb (transitive):

   • To organize workers into a labor union.
   • To cause a group of workers to form or join a labor union.

2. Verb (intransitive):

   • To form or join a labor union.
   • To become organized into a labor union.

Usage

• As a transitive verb, "unionize" takes a direct object (e.g., the workers, a factory).
• As an intransitive verb, it describes the action of the workers themselves.
• The term is most commonly used in the context of labor relations and workplace organization.

Examples

• Transitive usage:
  • The new employees wanted to unionize the warehouse staff.
  • Management feared that outside organizers would try to unionize the plant.
• Intransitive usage:
  • The auto workers decided to unionize for better pay and safety standards.
  • After the pay cuts, the teachers voted to unionize.

Advanced Usage

• "to unionize against something": To form a union in opposition to a specific policy or condition.
  • The freelancers unionized against the platform's unpredictable fee changes.
• Passive Voice: Often used to describe the state of a workforce.
  • The industry is heavily unionized.
  • That sector of the economy is difficult to unionize.

Variants and Related Words

• Unionization (noun): The process of forming or joining a union.
  • The unionization of the tech sector has been a recent trend.
• Unionized (adjective):
  • (/'juːnjənaɪzd/) Organized into a labor union.

    • A unionized workforce.
  • (/'juːniənaɪzd/) In chemistry, a different word meaning not ionized. (This is a homograph with a different pronunciation and meaning.)
• Union (noun): An organized association of workers formed to protect and further their rights and interests; a labor union.
• Organize (verb): A more general synonym often used in similar contexts.

Synonyms

• Organize (in the context of labor).
• Mobilize (workers).

Antonyms

• Decertify (to dissolve a union).
• Deunionize.

Related Phrases

• Collective bargaining: The negotiation of wages and other conditions of employment by an organized body of employees, a key goal of unionizing.
• Labor rights: The rights of workers to organize and bargain collectively, which unionizing seeks to protect and exercise.
• Union drive / organizing drive: A campaign to persuade workers to unionize.

Verb

1. form or join a union
   • The auto workers decided to unionize
2. recruit for a union or organize into a union
   • We don't allow people to come into our plant and try to unionize the workers