rfectly realized by any means. It
often happens that the scope of a labor union will coincide with the
underlying facts of unity at one time, but not permanently. The limits
of particular trade unions have sometimes been set by an accident of
time or place; by some episode in union history. The internal politics
of the union movement has been the decisive factor in still other
instances. Furthermore, industrial conditions are constantly changing
and creating new lines of group separation or unity, which may vary from
the lines of the existing labor unions.

Labor organization affects the formation of relatively separate groups
of wage earners both directly and indirectly. First as to its direct
influence. A labor union is a combination of a number of individuals,
formed with the intention of advancing the material welfare of the group
and for such wider purposes as the group may agree upon. The chief
peaceful method of unionism is collective bargaining; its chief
combative method is the strike. Labor unionism is a factor in the
formation of relatively separate groups of wage earners, because each
autonomous, or practically autonomous, trade union is a point of
pressure upon the distributive mechanism. Each trade union strives to
turn the balance of distribution in its own direction. This it does in a
variety of ways.

It may by its wage demands test out the nature of the demand for the
products of its labor. It strives to force the price of these products
up to the point which seems to promise the greatest wage income for the
group. It may by its pressure on the employer bring about a revision of
productive methods. It seeks by its strength to secure that portion of
the product which, in its view, goes to the strongest contender for it.
Unions, indeed, sometimes strive to restrict the flow of labor into
their craft or industry by deliberate regulation or silent obstruction.
Such instances are less important than formerly in all probability. On
occasion unions may even play a part in determining the field of
employment for their members. Thus G. D. H. Cole points out that in
England the trade unions do not recognize "differences between skilled
and less skilled workers as demarcation disputes, and do not recognize
the right of unskilled workers to raise such cases against skilled
unions. In fact, the skilled unions virtually claim the right to do such
work as they think fit, and so far as they can enforce their claim, t