Trade Unions
- Focus: Represent and protect the interests of workers in specific occupational sectors or industries.
- Membership: Open to employees within the designated sectors or industries.
- Goals: Improve working conditions, wages, and benefits; negotiate collective bargaining agreements; advocate for workers' rights.
- Organization: Typically hierarchical with elected leaders and staff.
- Funding: Primarily through membership dues and union fees.
- Scope: Limited to workplace-related issues.
- Example: American Federation of Teachers (AFT)
Community-Based Organizations (CBOs)
- Focus: Address social, economic, or environmental issues within a specific community.
- Membership: Open to any residents of the community, regardless of employment.
- Goals: Empower residents, improve community well-being, address local challenges (e.g., poverty, homelessness, environmental degradation).
- Organization: Non-hierarchical or grassroots-based with community leaders and volunteers.
- Funding: Diverse sources, including grants, donations, government agencies.
- Scope: Broad focus on community improvement, including health, education, housing, social services, and economic development.
- Example: United Way, YMCA/YWCA
Key Differences
- Target Group: Trade unions represent workers, while CBOs represent residents of a community.
- Scope: Trade unions focus on workplace issues, while CBOs have a broader community-improvement focus.
- Structure: Trade unions tend to be more hierarchical, while CBOs are more grassroots-based.
- Funding: Trade unions rely primarily on membership dues, while CBOs have diverse funding sources.
- Overlap: In some cases, there may be overlap between trade unions and CBOs, particularly where unions represent workers in community-related industries (e.g., healthcare, education).