american federation of labor

In addition to the MLA, Chicago, and APA styles, your school, university, publication, or institution may have its own requirements for citations. Washington, B.C. With a strong labor movement developing, delegates from eight trade assemblies met in 1864 in Louisville, Kentucky, with the intention of forming the International Industrial Assembly of North America. Building and Construction Trades Department, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, American Center for International Labor Solidarity, International Labor Communications Association, Labor and Working-Class History Association, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=American_Federation_of_Labor&oldid=1016106461, Anti-immigration politics in the United States, Defunct trade unions in the United States, Articles lacking reliable references from December 2011, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Articles with unsourced statements from December 2011, Wikipedia articles with SNAC-ID identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WorldCat-VIAF identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Boris, Eileen, Nelson Lichtenstein, and Thomas Paterson. [18] The group from the outset concentrated upon the income and working conditions of its membership as its almost sole focus. Although only in existence for a short time, the union helped to establish the concept of the worker as a viable economic group with national interests. Participation in partisan politics was avoided as inherently divisive, and the group's constitution was structured to prevent the admission of political parties as affiliates. The American Federation of Labor has always been strongly anti-communist. [49], During its first years, the AFL admitted nearly anyone. The manufacturers ordered a lockout that involved 10,000 workers. union had its own leadership, which was determined by its own specific requirements and needs. [27], Towards the beginning of World War I, the AFL was against prohibition as it was viewed as cultural right of the working class to drink. This approach was set by Gompers, who was influenced by a fellow cigar maker (and former socialist) Ferdinand Laurrel. [6] The call stated that an element of the Knights of Labor was doing "malicious work" and causing "incalculable mischief by arousing antagonisms and dissensions in the labor movement. Georgia State University: creatorOf: Weiny, George, 1903-. While the AFL sought to outlaw "yellow dog contracts," to limit the courts' power to impose "government by injunction" and to obtain exemption from the antitrust laws that were being used to criminalize labor organizing, the courts reversed what few legislative successes the labor movement won. Meat vs. Rice. Encyclopedias almanacs transcripts and maps, St. James Encyclopedia of Labor History Worldwide: Major Events in Labor History and Their Impact. During Gompers' presidency, the AFL rose to more than 4 million members by 1920, after which its membership declined until 1933, when it was not much more than 2 million. [citation needed], The AFL also encouraged the formation of local labor bodies (known as central labor councils) in major metropolitan areas in which all of the affiliates could participate. The result was a tremendous growth of … In 1936 union members enthusiastically supported Roosevelt's landslide reelection. American Federation of Labor (AFL), a trade union organization in the USA, in existence during 1881–1955. Journal: Suspended for protracted period in early 1920s for failure to comply with convention decision. The efforts of several earlier, short-lived national organizations made possible the creation of the American Federation of Labor (AFL). He remained a member of the Local 144 for the rest of his life and was elected its president in 1874. The initial membership of the AFL was estimated at about 140,000 workers grouped in 25 national unions. In response, most women workers remained outside the labor movement. AFL; American Federation of Labor; More generic. 6. Historian Norman J. Ware remarked that the KOL "tried to teach the American wage-earner that he was a wage-earner first and a bricklayer, carpenter, miner, shoemaker, after, that he was a wage-earner first and a Catholic, Protestant, Jew, white, black, Democrat, Republican after.". 5th ed. [3] Just when it appeared that the strike might be won, the New York District Assembly of the Knights of Labor leaped into the breach, offering to settle with the 19 factories at a lower wage scale than that proposed by the CMIU, so long as only the Progressive Cigarmakers' Union was employed. Journal: Two Boilermakers unions amalgamated in 1893, considered the start date of this union by some. The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) works tirelessly to improve the lives of working people. Even that sort of structure did not prevent AFL unions from finding themselves in conflict on political issues. Its membership surged during the war and it held on to most of its new members after wartime legal support for labor was removed. Women organized independent locals among New York hat makers, in the Chicago stockyards, and among Jewish and Italian waist makers, to name only three examples. After the AFL expelled the CIO in 1936, the CIO undertook a major organizing effort. The final break between the craft unions and the KOL came in 1886, when the FOTLU called a universal strike for an eight-hour day. [58], From the beginning, unions affiliated with the AFL found themselves in conflict when both unions claimed jurisdiction over the same groups of workers: both the Brewers and Teamsters claimed to represent beer truck drivers, both the Machinists and the International Typographical Union claimed to represent certain printroom employees, and the Machinists and a fledgling union known as the "Carriage, Wagon and Automobile Workers Union" sought to organize the same employees—even though neither union had made any effort to organize or bargain for those employees. The AFL concerned itself primarily with organizing skilled workers and with the pursuit of specific, attainable goals such as higher wages and shorter working hours. The committee of investigation was controlled by individuals friendly to the New York District Assembly, however, and the latter was exonerated. [14] Gompers would ultimately be re-elected to the position by annual conventions of the organization for every year save one until his death nearly four decades later. It was based upon the craft union model where skilled workers were organized along specific trades, such as plumbing. Later, various other national and international trade unions modeled their organizations after this structure. The American Federation of Labor (AFL) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States founded in Columbus, Ohio, in December 1886 by an alliance of craft unions disaffected from the Knights of Labor, a national labor union. The American Federation of Labor (AFL) is a labor union in the United States. Democrats sought to portray their plan as an inherently pro-worker policy, highlighting endorsements from the American Federation of Labor and the United Steelworkers. The American Federation of Labor (AFL) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States founded in Columbus, Ohio, in December 1886 by an alliance of craft unions disaffected from the Knights of Labor, a national labor union. Proposals for the creation of an independent labor party were rejected. The American Federation of Labor (AFL) was organized in 1886. [16] Factional warfare broke out in the K of L, with Terence Powderly blaming the organization's travails on "radicals" in its ranks, while those opposing Powderly called for an end to what they perceived as "autocratic leadership. The AFL refused to sanction or participate in the mass strikes led by John L. Lewis of the United Mine Workers and other left unions such as the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America. The agenda of the National Labor Union was to promote arbitration (instead of strikes), regulation of apprenticeship, the eight-hour workday, a national labor statistics bureau, a federal labor department, and the abolition of contract prison labor. [60], In some respects the AFL leadership took a pragmatic view toward politicians, following Gompers' slogan to "reward your friends and punish your enemies" without regard to party affiliation. After electing Gompers as president, the delegation elected P. F. Fitzpatrick of the iron molders as first vice president; J. W. Smith, of the journeymen tailors as second vice president; P. J. McGuire of the carpenters as secretary; and Gabriel Edmonston, also of the carpenters, as treasurer. ." Between 1873 and 1880 three diverse organizations—one composed solely of skilled workers, another group emphasizing the social reforms of the National Labor Union, and a third one composed of immigrant workers with a socialist intent—prevented any national labor union from being formed. Gompers, Samuel (1850-1924): Gompers was an American labor leader, who, as president of the American Federation of Labor (AFL), believed in cooperation between management and labor as a means of obtaining labor demands, with the strike used only as a last resort. By 1 May 1886 around 350,000 workers were on strike, with some of the most violent actions taking place in Chicago in the form of a bomb explosion at Haymarket Square on 4 May 1886. [57], Attitudes gradually changed within the AFL due to the pressure of organized female workers. [38] In 1933, Green sent William Collins to Detroit to organize automobile workers into a federal labor union. In 1875 Gompers was the head of Local 144 in New York City, the largest affiliate to the Cigar Makers' Union (a prominent trade union of skilled workers). Anti-communism-Wikipedia. The AFL also began one of the first organized labor boycotts when they began putting white stickers on the cigars made by unionized white cigar rollers while simultaneously discouraging consumers from purchasing cigars rolled by Chinese workers. Joseph Jacobs oral history interview, 1991 Mar. Gompers, Samuel. See and … Its president was Samuel Gompers, who served until 1925. He believed that the union should work with industry, rather than fight against it, so as to improve the economic state of union members. [62], The AFL relaxed its rigid stand against legislation after the death of Gompers. The campaign failed to establish a permanent independent party closely connected to the labor movement, however, and thereafter the Federation embraced ever more closely the Democratic Party, despite the fact that many union leaders remained Republicans. John Jarrett of the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers became the president, with Gompers and Powers both serving as vice presidents. [36] That same year workers at the Westinghouse plant in East Springfield MA, members of federal labor union 18476, struck for recognition. The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). On 17 May 1834 the Workingmen's Advocate of New York City printed an article that told of the benefits of a national union of trade societies in sustaining and promoting the rights of every workingman in the country. Therefore, that information is unavailable for most Encyclopedia.com content. [1] The Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions also merged into what would become the American Federation of Labor. American Federation of Labor — An affiliation of labor unions, now combined with the former Congress of Industrial Organizations under the abbreviated heading AF of L CIO … Ballentine's law dictionary. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution, 1933. Over 100 delegates representing nearly half a million members attended the founding convention. See also: Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions of the United States and Canada (FOTLU); General Trades' Union; Haymarket Riot; Knights of Labor; National Labor Union; National Trades Union. Labor Archives of Washington, University of Washington Libraries Special Collections. The craft unions in this industry organized their own department within the AFL in 1908, despite the reservations of Gompers and other leaders about creation of a separate body within the AFL that might function as a federation within a federation. a federation of North American labor unions that merged with the Congress of Industrial Organizations in 1955. Wells Fargo bank. Only two national unions affiliated with the AFL at its founding openly included women, and others passed by-laws barring women's membership entirely. They adopted the popular British trade union system into their new organization and also adopted, with the urging of Gompers, a set of sound and efficient business practices. [2], In January 1886, the Cigar Manufacturers' Association of New York City announced a 20 percent wage cut in factories around the city. [21]:1, Ever the pragmatist, Gompers argued that labor should "reward its friends and punish its enemies" in both major parties. The National Civic Federation was formed by several progressive employers who sought to avoid labor disputes by fostering collective bargaining and "responsible" unionism. [citation needed], The AFL made efforts in its early years to assist its affiliates in organizing: it advanced funds or provided organizers or, in some cases, such as the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the Teamsters and the American Federation of Musicians, helped form the union. NAACP-Wikipedia. [14] Governance of the organization was to be by annual conventions, with one delegate allocated for every 4,000 members of each affiliated union. [39] In 1933, the AFL received 1,205 applications for charters for federal labor unions, 1006 of which were granted. New York: Greenwood Press, Publishers, 1968. Workers, however, found that boycotts were effective weapons against abusive employers and discovered that the KOL were eager to help all types of workers by funding the strikes, intervening in disputes, and negotiating with employers. By 1904, the American Federation of Labor had 1.7 million members. THE IMPACT OF GLOBALIZATION The leadership of the KOL opposed the eight-hour workday (although the KOL members favored it, and the public perceived the KOL to be in favor of it) and tried to disrupt the strike. The AFL bridged these differences on an ad hoc basis. The Gompers were a family of Jewish cigar makers, which they maintained when they came to Manhattan during the Civil War. At this time, growth increased in other craft unions that had survived the depression of 1873. In 1920, AFL membership had soared … The issue unified the workers who feared that an influx of new workers would flood the labor market and lower wages. The KOL emphasized the solidarity of labor and promoted the idea of a centralized association that would represent the workers in all industries and occupations. It was called the Federation of Organized Trade Unions of the USA and Canada until 1886, when it became the AFL. Labor Uni…, American Federation of Catholic Societies, American Expansion: The Great Land Ordinances, American Edwin L. Drake Drills the First Oil Well (1859), American Educational Research Association, American Federation of Labor on President Johnson and Human Rights, American Federation of Police and Concerned Citizens, American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education, American Foundation for Suicide and Prevention, American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors, https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/american-federation-labor, Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions of the United States and Canada (FOTLU). "For many years the system…, An organization of workers in the same skilled occupation or related skilled occupations who act Samuel Gompers and the Origins of the American Federation of Labor, 1848-1896. The union, however, did help secure higher wages, shorter workdays, workmen's compensation, additional legislation against child labor, and the exemption of labor from antitrust legislation. The AFL thought that it had achieved the latter with the passage of the Clayton Antitrust Act in 1914—which Gompers referred to as "Labor's Magna Carta". If women's hours could be limited, reasoned AFL officials, they would infringe less on male employment and earning potential. The AFL emphasized the organization of skilled workers into craft unions (composed of a single occupation such as carpenters or electricians), as opposed to industrial unions (in which all the workers in a particular industry, such as steel, would belong to one union). Union membership was estimated at about 300,000 at this time. However, when the KOL met on 4 October 1886 in Richmond, Virginia, it admitted the Progressive Cigar Makers' Union and expelled the International Cigar Makers' Union, of which Local 144 was a member. In 1935 Lewis led the dissenting unions in forming a new Congress for Industrial Organization (CIO) within the AFL. Both the new CIO industrial unions, and the older AFL crafts unions grew rapidly after 1935. Lorwin, Lewis Levitzki. Other articles where American Federation of Labor is discussed: American Federation of Labor–Congress of Industrial Organizations: …by the merger of the AFL (founded 1886), which originally organized workers in craft unions, and the CIO (founded 1935), which organized workers by industries. (April 15, 2021). 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