相對於國家社會主義者之將工會視為資本主義與工業化的產物這慣常假定，本文將工會起源往前追溯至前工業化時期的工匠基爾特（craft guilds）；因之，工會被視為具有「職業的」而非「階級的」基礎。本文區別辨識出三類型的工會組織：工匠工會（craft unions）、資深工會（seniority unions），以及聯合工會（federal unions）；每一類別皆對應於明確的勞動部門。本文所呈現的，也因之是一個對於工會的自由主義多元觀點，它不將工會視為邁向國家社會主義的踏腳石，而是倡議將集體組織和集體交涉視為目的本身。此一觀點認知到—並且期許—工會組織之多元性，以及其之做為社會的權力中心。

In contrast to the usual assumption on the part of state-socialist historians that trade unions were the product of capitalism and industrialisation, this paper traces their origins further back to the pre-industrial craft guilds. As a result, the unions are seen as having an occupational rather than a class basis, and three main types of organisations are identified: craft unions, seniority unions and federal unions, each with their base in a distinct sector of the workforce. A liberal-pluralist view of the role of trade unions in society is then outlined which, rather than seeing them as a stepping stone towards state-socialism, advocates collective organisation and collective bargaining as ends in themselves: accepting, and indeed hoping for, a plurality not only of types of organisation but also of centres of power within society.