National Workers' Union (Portugal)

National Workers' Union
União Operária Nacional
AbbreviationUON
SuccessorGeneral Confederation of Labour
Established17 March 1914; 110 years ago (1914-03-17)
Dissolved13 September 1919; 105 years ago (1919-09-13)
TypeNational trade union centre
HeadquartersCalçada do Combro, 38, Lisboa
Location
Membership (1914)
60,000
General Secretary
Evaristo Esteves (1917–1919)
Publication
  • União Operária (1914–1916)
  • O Movimento Operário (1918–1919)
  • A Batalha (1919)

The National Workers' Union (Portuguese: União Operária Nacional;[a] UON) was a Portuguese trade union federation. Established by a coalition of syndicalists and socialists, in the wake of a strike wave that followed the 1910 revolution, the UON was the first trade union centre to unite workers across different industries from throughout the country. The UON launched a series of strike actions following the Portuguese entry into World War I, which radicalised the union towards anarcho-syndicalism. By 1917, the UON was calling for revolution, backed by its powerful construction workers' union. In November 1918, the UON carried out a national general strike, but it was defeated by the state. The following year, the UON was reorganised into the General Confederation of Labour (CGT), which took over its structures and activities.


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