# Union label > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Union_label > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Union_label.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_label > Source revision: 1335808172 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Mark indicating labor union affiliation [Industrial Workers of the World](/source/Industrial_Workers_of_the_World) union label used by [Black and Red Press](/source/Black_and_Red_Press) ca. 1973. Sewed in union label for hats by The United Hatters of North America, Registered, Union Made A **union label** (sometimes called a **union bug**) is a label, mark or emblem which advertises that the employees who make a product or provide a service are represented by the [labor union](/source/Labor_union) or group of unions whose label appears, in order to attract customers who prefer to buy union-made products. The term "union bug" is frequently used to describe a minuscule union label appearing on printed materials, which supposedly resembles a small insect.[1][2][3] ## Origin and history A loaf of bread bearing the union label of the [Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers' International Union](/source/Bakery%2C_Confectionery%2C_Tobacco_Workers_and_Grain_Millers'_International_Union) The invention of the union label concept is attributed to the [Carpenter's](/source/Carpentry) [Eight-Hour League](/source/Eight-Hour_League) in [San Francisco, California](/source/San_Francisco%2C_California) which adopted a stamp in 1869 for use on products produced by [factories](/source/Factory) employing men on the eight- (as opposed to ten-) hour day. In 1874, that city's unionized [cigar](/source/Cigar)-making workers created a similar "white labor" label to differentiate their cigars from those made by poorly paid, non-unionized [Chinese](/source/Chinese_immigration_to_the_United_States) workers. The concept of the union label as a tool for harnessing [support from fellow working-class consumers](/source/Social_solidarity) for unionization spread rapidly in the next decades, first among the cigarmakers (their union adopted the first national union label in 1880), but among other unions as well, including [typographers](/source/Typography), [garment workers](/source/Sewing), [coopers](/source/Cooper_(profession)), [bakers](/source/Baking) and [iron molders](/source/Molding_(process)). By 1909, the [American Federation of Labor](/source/American_Federation_of_Labor) had created its [Union Label Department](/source/Union_Label_Department%2C_AFL-CIO).[4][5] ## See also - [Printer's mark](/source/Printer's_mark) ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["A Bug's Life"](http://www.backspace.com/notes/2003/01/03/x.html). *Social Design Notes (excerpt of article below)*. Retrieved 2007-08-17. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Proposal for Inclusion of Union Label Description in Bibliographic and Archival Cataloging Guidelines"](http://www.docspopuli.org/articles/UnionBug.html). *Cushing, Lincoln (2003)*. Retrieved 2007-11-05. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Use the Union Label"](http://www.docspopuli.org/articles/UnionLabels/Use_the_union_label.html). *Cushing, Lincoln (2005)*. Retrieved 2007-11-05. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [Sherwood, Susan Parker. "A Brief History of Labor Symbols"](http://www.library.sfsu.edu/exhibits/labels/default.php) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20090310032811/http://www.library.sfsu.edu/exhibits/labels/default.php) March 10, 2009, at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) Accessed 28 Oct. 2008 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Shah, Nayan (2001). [*Contagious Divides: Epidemics and Race in San Francisco's Chinatown*](https://books.google.com/books?id=DhU_kiO1_i8C&pg=PP13). University of California Press. p. 158. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-520-22629-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-520-22629-1). v t e Organized labor Labor history Labor rights Labor movement Trade union (public sector) Formation Structure Labor council Union organizer National trade union center Global union federation Unionization Union representative Local union Union dues Vigilance committee Union label Salt Trades hall Duty of fair representation Worker center Models Organizing model Service model Social movement unionism Community unionism Members-only unionism One Big Union Open-source unionism Business unionism Dual unionism Solidarity unionism Syndicalism Types Company union Independent union General union Craft unionism Industrial unionism Police union Public-sector union Industrial relations Shops and hiring Closed shop Open shop Agency shop Union shop Hiring hall Bump Scope clause Union co-op model Actions Bossnapping Contingent work Diversity training Gherao Grievance Labor revolt Occupation of factories Precarious work Precarity Picketing Salting Slowdown Stay-away Strike notice Organizational dissent Industrial action Unfair list Work-to-rule Strike actions Hartal General strike Bandh newspapers Green bans Overtime bans Pen-down strikes Recognition Sitdown strike Solidarity actions Walkout Whipsaw Wildcat strikes Bargaining Bargaining unit Collaborative bargaining Collective bargaining Sectoral Enterprise bargaining agreement Global Framework Agreement Master contract Pattern bargaining Union security agreement Compensation Strike pay Union wage premium Workers' compensation Reactions Labor spies in the United States Union busting Givebacks Paper local Anti-union violence United States Union violence Demarcation dispute Strikebreaking Goon squads Featherbedding Union raids Other topics 35-hour workweek Eight-hour day Six-hour day Four-day workweek Conflict theories Critique of work Decent work Diversity, equity, and inclusion Equal pay for equal work Exploitation of labour Forced labour Hunger strikes International comparisons of labor unions Job strain Labor code Labor law Minimum wage Maximum wage Prison strikes Professional abuse Protection Occupational safety and health Occupational stress Overwork Social support Wage slavery Workload This article related to one or more trade or labor unions is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information. - [v](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Trade-union-stub) - [t](/source/Template_talk%3ATrade-union-stub) - [e](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Trade-union-stub) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Union label](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_label) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_label?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.