What primary goal do labor unions aim to achieve regarding work conditions?

Labor unions primarily aim to advocate for better living standards for workers, and this goal encompasses a wide range of issues including fair wages, reasonable working hours, safe working conditions, and benefits such as healthcare and pensions. Unions arise from the collective need of employees to organize and empower themselves to negotiate with employers more effectively than they could individually.

By pushing for improvements in living standards, unions strive to ensure that workers can not only meet their basic needs but also enjoy a better quality of life. This is central to the mission of many labor organizations, which historically began as a response to exploitative practices during the industrialization era, where workers faced hazardous working conditions and minimal rights.

While the other options might relate to broader business practices, they do not align with the fundamental objectives of labor unions. Increasing company profits is typically a focus for management rather than a goal of labor organizations. Promoting longer working hours contradicts the union focus on workers' rights and well-being. Reducing competition in the job market might be a strategy some businesses pursue to maintain control, but it does not capture the primary worker-focused mission of unions.