History Main / WeirdTradeUnion

'''Shrek:''' ''[to the others in disbelief]'' They don't even have dental.

** The [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Guild_of_Organists American Guild of Organists]] provided a similar service for church musicians. (However, after a challenge from the FTC for encouraging noncompetitive practices, they admitted in a settlement that they didn’t have a way to enforce their salary requirements. These days, their activities are mostly for professional development and support.)

'''Shrek:''' ''[to the others in disbelief]'' [[AndThatsTerrible They don't even have dental]].

* The [[https://www.sheldonhub.org/resources/141 Faithworkers' Branch of Unite the Union]] is a trade union for those employed in religious congregations, most of them being religious ministers - yes, this is a trade union for priests.[[/folder]]

'''Elf:''' The union?\\

'''Elf:''' Oh, oh right.\\

'''Elf:''' ''[turns off microphone]'' Uh, a little...we don't even have dental.\\

* Terry Pratchett's ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' books include "Guilds" for almost all possible jobs, including Thieves, Assassins, Plumbers, Fools, Exotic Dancers, "[[UnusualEuphemism Seamstresses]]" ([[BandOfBrothels hem hem]]), and even Beggars and Dogs. Several of them came about because ''Literature/TheColourOfMagic'' was a parody of various other authors' worlds that included guilds for those with no logical reason to form guilds (like thieves and assassins). ''TCOM'' presents a society where the Weird Guilds are taken for granted, but the Assassins and Thieves are totally perplexed when the ''Merchants'' form a guild.

* In ''TabletopGame/GURPSTechnomancer'', the Elementalists Union, or "Big El", is a major power player, because elementalists are widely used in industry, to the point where organised crime keeps trying to get control of Big El, and through them, the construction industry. There's also Mexico's SNTBC Quetzal - the National
Syndicate of Workers in Witchcraft and Magical Healing.

** In [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E21ThePTADisbands "The PTA Disbands"]] when Springfield Elmentary's teachers and staff go on strike, Edna Krabappel happily announces another union has joined them in a sympathy strike, "The Piano Tuners Local 412"; the staff all look confused and we cut to a ''single'' [[https://frinkiac.com/img/S06E21/630662.jpg piano tuner on strike.]]

** There also used to be a Fireman's Guild. It was disbanded because someone made the foolish mistake of having them be paid by the fires put out, rather than fixed salary. Ankh-Morporkians being as they are, this led to a lot of visits from firemen muttering things about how ''flammable'' buildings looked. The shoe finally dropped after one too many buildings got "accidentally" burnt down in one day. They have now been largely superseded by the city's fireproof Golem population, which are compelled by the words in their head to prevent the spread of fires

** The ThievesGuild operates interestingly and has played a background but persistent role in several books. It's a bit like an insurance agency crossed with a protection racket. You pay a fee to the Guild a few times a year and they're bound by contract not to mug/rob/steal from you. The more you pay, the better the contract. Simple ones include muggings that leave you with a few bruises, and high-tier ones see a thief politely tip his hat, flash his license, accept a coin, and walk away. The Guild offsets these structured crimes by coming down very, ''very'' hard on criminals who operate without a license -- much harder than the legal authorities (unlicensed thieves ''pray'' to be caught by the Watch before the Guild). Net result: when the Thieves Guild goes on strike, the crime rate goes ''up''. After this happened, the Watch fell into disuse for a while, because the Guilds just had to work less to reduce crime a lot, while the Watch would have to work themselves ragged. There was a genuine protection racket at one point, in the Guild of Firefighters, which was immediately disbanded. They have now been largely superseded by the city's fireproof Golem population, which are compelled by the words in their head to prevent the spread of fires.

** There also used to be a Fireman's Guild. It was disbanded because someone made the foolish mistake of having them be paid by the fires put out, rather than fixed salary. Ankh-Morporkians being as they are, this led to a lot of visits from firemen muttering things about how ''flammable'' buildings looked. The shoe finally dropped after one too many buildings got "accidentally" burnt down in one day.

* The ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'' body of work has a union for the newest characters and pseudo-characters. "Late Era New-Ish Characters Union 208", led by Sharpdene (Introduced April 1st, 2016)[[labelnote:*]]a female alter ego for Strong Bad, taped to a coatrack wearing sunglasses and a wig.[[/labelnote]] as the Chair, er, Coatrackperson. Other members include F-Sack (Introduced August 3rd, 2015)[[labelnote:*]]a sentient filthy sack containing Flash Animation motion tweens and depreciated actions.[[/labelnote]] and Humidibot (Introduced November 10, 2015)[[labelnote:*]]a robotic [[NonIndicativeName dehumidifier]], based on a fan's Austin Air-brand Bedroom Machine air purifier[[/labelnote]]. This union made their debut introducing their newest member, Anew App (formally introduced December 24, 2022 but made small cameos throughout the month)[[labelnote:*]]a frog with a smartphone[[/labelnote]].

'''Shrek:''' ''[to the others in disbelief]'' They don't even have dental.

** The Guild of Seamstresses ("They call themselves ''seamstresses''... ''[[CoughSnarkCough hem]]'', ''[[{{Pun}} hem]]!''") gets a fair amount of both serious and comedic attention, starting with their leader being called [[ADateWithRosiePalms Rosie Palm and her female underlings being referred to as "daughters"]]. The fact that the "Seamstresses'" Guild does not include actual seamstresses is dealt with surprisingly seriously in ''Literature/FeetOfClay'', where miserable (and technically legal) sweatshops are depicted. The Guild also keeps a few genuine seamstresses, as in women who can darn socks and mend holes in clothes, on hand for when people inevitably get them mixed up (and so that men can get their socks darned while they "[[UnusualEuphemism get their socks darned]]"). Some of those ladies earn more than the regular guild members because the misunderstanding is so widespread.

* In ''VideoGame/EnterTheGungeon'', if you bring the Mimic Tooth Necklace, which turns all chests into [[ChestMonster Mimics]], into [[spoiler: The [[BonusBoss Resourceful Rat's Lair]]]], the special chests there won't be turned into mimics despite normally being able to be mimics. Instead, there will be a "Mimic Union Chest" who explains that there are just too many chests present to replace, and besides, they aren't up to code. This is for game balance purposes, as mimic chests don't require [[InterchangeableAntimatterKeys keys]] and these chests contain powerful items that can only be accessed with special keys.

* The Companions' Guild in ''Series/{{Firefly}}''. For the uninitiated, "Companion" in this case refers to a particularly high-class call girl. The Guild provides healthcare for its members and maintains a list of approved clients.

** The Centauri seem to like this trope. They also have a Telepath's Guild, in contrast to the human Psi Corps (which is a MutantDraftBoard). [[note]]In the pilot episode the Psi Corps was presented more as a voluntary guild than a draft board that human telepaths were forced to join.[[/note]]

'''Shrek:'''[to the others in disbelieve] They don't even have dental.

'''Elf:''' ''[turns off microphone]'' Uh, a little...we don't even have dental.

** Combined with BlackComedy when Centauri Emperor [[TheCaligula Cartagia]], his hands deep red with blood (but otherwise in an impeccable white uniform) starts talking about his attempts to make G'Kar scream but takes a tangent into rolling his eyes about unions:

* Vic Spanner was a lazy worker at a toilet factory in ''Film/CarryOnAtYourConvenience'', who was (supposedly) the head of the factory trade union and organised worker strikes whenever he didn't want to work.