# unionization

/ˌjunjənəˈzeɪʃən/ (US) · CEFR C1 · Noun

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/unionization
Updated: 2026-10-19

## Definition

the process where workers join together to form a union so they can ask for better pay and safer conditions together.

For teachers: formation of a labor union by workers within a company or industry, or the extension of union organization to previously non-union workplaces.

## Examples

- Unionization helps workers ask for better pay together.
- After long hours with no overtime pay, the warehouse staff vote for unionization to negotiate safer shifts.
- Historians trace the wave of unionization in the 1930s to legal protections that finally allowed industrial workers to bargain collectively without fear of dismissal.

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