The questions raised by this paper include the following: Did working-class American families around the turn of the twentieth century save more for precautionary purposes, to finance retirement or to provide for unforeseen circumstances such as unemployment, illnesses, or accidents before the...

The knowledge of the nature and structure of trade unions is a basic requisite to correctly model bargaining between firms and unions. Thus, in this paper the historical background and the current characteristics of the Uruguayan trade unions are summarised.