Union Pacific Corp. Company that extended the U.S. railway system to the Pacific Coast. Incorporated by an act of Congress in 1862, it was built westward 1,006 mi (1,620 km) from Omaha, Neb., to meet the Cen¬ tral Pacific Railroad, which was being built eastward from Sacramento, Calif. The two railroads were joined at Promontory, Utah, in 1869. The Union Pacific was largely financed by federal loans and land grants, but its involvement in the Credit Mobilier scandal left it badly in debt, and the company went into receivership in 1893. It was reorganized in 1897 by Edward H. Harriman, under whose leadership the railroad took part in the economic development of the West. In 1982 it merged with the Missouri Pacific Railroad Co. and the Western Pacific Railroad Co. Its acquisition of the Southern Pacific Rail Corp. in 1996 made it the largest railroad in the U.S., with control of almost all rail-based shipping in the western two-thirds of the country.
union shop Arrangement under which workers are required to join a particular union within a specified period of time after beginning employ¬ ment. Such an arrangement differs from the closed shop in that the employ¬ er’s choice of new employees is not restricted to union members. Advocates of the union shop argue that it prevents workers from enjoy¬ ing the benefits of unionism without bearing their share of the costs. Union
shops are uncommon in most countries, but they are both legal and com¬ mon in the U.S. and Japan. In the U.S., workers in an enterprise usually choose, by majority vote, a single union to represent them, though in some states right-to-work laws prohibit requiring union membership as a con¬ dition of employment, thus forbidding both the union shop and the closed shop.
unit trust See mutual fund
Unitarianism Religious movement that stresses free use of reason in religion, holds that God exists in only one person, and denies the divin¬ ity of Jesus and the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. Its modem roots are traced to several liberal, radical, and rationalist thinkers of the Protestant Refor¬ mation, who were in turn inspired by Arius. The mainstream of British and American Unitarianism grew out of Calvinist Puritanism. The scien¬ tist Joseph Priestley was a founder of the English Unitarians, who became a force in Parliament and were noted advocates of social reform. In the U.S., Unitarianism developed out of New England Congregationalism that rejected the 18th-century revival movement. Transcendentalism injected Unitarianism with a new interest that attracted many more followers. See also Calvinism, Universalism.
Unitas \yu-'nl-t3s\, Johnny in full John Constantine Unitas (b.
May 7, 1933, Pittsburgh, Pa., U.S.—d. Sept. 11, 2002, Timonium, Md.) U.S. football quarterback. After playing for the University of Louisville, he was selected in the NFL draft, though he played semiprofessionally before signing with the Baltimore Colts. From 1956 to 1972, he led the Colts to five league championship games (1958, 1959, 1964, 1968, 1970) and two Super Bowl games (1969, 1971); the Colts won titles in 1958, 1959, and 1971. After one season with the San Diego Chargers (1973), Unitas retired with 22 NFL records to his name. Considered by many to be the league’s greatest quarterback, he was inducted into the Pro Foot¬ ball Hall of Fame in 1979.
Unite d'Habitation \iB-ne- , ta-da-be-ta- , sy6 n \ Residential block (18 stories high) in Marseille, France, that expressed Le Corbusier’s ideal of urban family lodging. Completed in 1952, it is a vertical mixed-use com¬ munity, with a shopping floor halfway up and other communal facilities on the roof. Two-story living rooms make for efficient use of volumes and permit the use of a “skip-stop” system in which elevators stop on every other floor. Each unit has front and rear balconies with sun protection provided by Le Corbusier’s brise-soleil. The concrete screen pierced with differently sized openings evokes tracery.
United Airlines a division o/UAL Corp. U.S. international airline. It began as United Aircraft and Transport Corp., which first operated transcontinental passenger flights in 1929. It was the first airline to intro¬ duce stewardesses, in 1930. United Airlines, Inc., was established in Chi¬ cago in 1931 as a holding company for the corporation’s four constituent airlines. United expanded rapidly after World War II and became the larg¬ est air carrier in the Western world when it merged with Capital Airlines in 1961. United acquired Pan American World Airways' transpacific routes in 1986 and its Latin American and Caribbean routes in 1991. The parent company took the name UAL Corp. in 1988. When United employees held a controlling share of the airline company (1994-2003), UAL was the largest employee-owned company in the U.S.
United Arab Emirates (UAE ) formerly Trucial Vtru-shoL States Country, Middle East, southwestern Asia. It is a federation of seven states on the eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. They are the emirates of AbG ZabT (Abu Dhabi), Dubayy (Dubai), ‘Ajman, Al-Shariqah (Sharjah), Umm al-Qaywayn, Ra’s al-Khaymah, and Al-Fujayrah. Area: 32,280 sq mi (83,600 sq km). Population (2005 est.): 4,690,000. Capitaclass="underline" Abu Dhabi. The indigenous inhabitants are Arabs, but there are a large number of South Asian and Iranian migrant workers. Languages: Arabic (official), English, Persian, Urdu, Hindi. Religions: Islam (official; predominantly Sunni); also Christianity, Hinduism. Currency: UAE dirham. The UAE’s low- lying desert plain is broken by the Hajar Mountains along the Musandam Peninsula. Three natural deepwater harbours are located along the Gulf of Oman. The UAE (mainly Abu ZabI) has roughly one-tenth of the world’s petroleum reserves and significant natural gas deposits, the production of which are the federation’s principal industries. Other important economic activities include fishing, livestock herding, and date production. The fed¬ eration has one appointive advisory board; its chief of state is the presi¬ dent, and the head of government is the prime minister. In 1820 the British signed a peace treaty with the region’s coastal rulers. The area, formerly called the Pirate Coast, became known as the Trucial Coast. In 1892 the