Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Topic: LABOUR RELATIONS, UNIONS

Explore LABOUR RELATIONS, UNIONS Topic

black blackleg brotherhood card vote chapel closed shop collective bargaining feather bedding flying picket free collective bargaining general strike go-slow industrial action industrial relations industrial tribunal labor union labour labour relations local non-cooperation non-union organize out picket(n) picket(v) restrictive practices scab shop steward sick-out strikebreaker striker trade union union unionism unionize walkout wildcat strike work-to-rule

labour

1 noun
     
labour1 S3 W1 British English ; labor American English
1

work

[uncountable] work, especially physical work:
The garage charges £30 an hour for labour.
Many women do hard manual labour (=work with their hands).
Workers withdrew their labour (=protested by stopping work) for twenty-four hours.
 ➔ hard labour
2

workers

[uncountable] all the people who work for a company or in a countryCOLLOCATIONS COLLOCATIONS
skilled labour (=workers who have special skills) unskilled labour (=workers who have no special skills) casual labour (=workers who do jobs that are not permanent) cheap labour child labour slave labour labour costs labour shortage labour market (=all the people available to work)
a shortage of skilled labor
Wages for unskilled labour are very low.
small commercial farmers who depend on a casual labour supply
These countries are a source of cheap labour.
the use of child labour
produce grown by slave labor
We need to reduce our labour costs.
Labour shortages have forced the Japanese into making heavy use of industrial robots.
the changing role of mothers in the labour market
 ➔ labour force, labour market
3

baby

[singular, uncountable] the process of giving birth to a baby
in labour
Meg was in labour for ten hours.
Diane went into labour at 2 o'clock.
The labour pains were unbearable.
labour ward/room (=a room in a hospital where women give birth)
4

a labour of love

something that is hard work but that you do because you want to
5

somebody's labours

formal a period of hard work:
After several hours gardening we sat down to admire the results of our labours.
  
Word of the Day
The LABOUR RELATIONS, UNIONS
Word of the Day is:
shop steward

Other related topics