What is the difference between a guild and a union?

In a guild, independent contractors or freelancers in a shared trade represent themselves. A guild is almost indistinguishable from a professional association, which also self-organizes its independent members in a shared trade. An example of this is the American Institute of Architects. What’s the Difference Between Guilds and Unions?

What is a “guild” union?

Some “guilds” are actually traditional labor unions that choose to use the word “guild” in their name, like the NewsGuild-CWA, which represents journalists and other media workers who are employees of their respective publications and outlets.

How do guilds and labor unions work?

Guilds and labor unions also work to settle grievances between their members and employers. They handle disciplinary matters, complaints and breaches of employment contracts, and they uses similar processes or tools to solve labor-management conflicts.