Skilled worker

A skilled worker is any worker who has special skill, training, knowledge, and (usually acquired) ability in their work. A skilled worker may have attended a college, university or technical school. Or, a skilled worker may have learned their skills on the job. Examples of skilled labor include software development, paramedics, police officers, physicians, crane operators, painters, plumbers, craftsmen, and accountants. These workers can be either blue-collar or white-collar workers, with varied levels of training or education.

History

In the northern region of the United States, craft unions may have served as the catalyst to ferment a strong solidarity in favor of skilled labor in the period of the Gilded Age (1865-1900).

In the early 1880s, the craft unions of skilled workers walked hand in hand with the Knights of Labor but the harmony did not last long and by 1885, the Knights' leadership became hostile to trade unions. The Knights argued that the specialization of industrialization had undermined the bargaining power of skilled labor. This was partly true in the 'eighties but it had not yet made obsolete the existence of craft unionism.