The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was a national federation of
labor unions in the United States that continues today as the
AFL-CIO. It was founded in
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, an ...
, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutual support and disappointed in the
Knights of Labor.
Samuel Gompers was elected the full-time president at its founding convention and reelected every year, except one, until his death in 1924. He became the major spokesperson for the union movement.
The A.F. of L. was the largest union grouping, even after the creation of the
Congress of Industrial Organizations
The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) was a federation of unions that organized workers in industrial unions in the United States and Canada from 1935 to 1955. Originally created in 1935 as a committee within the American Federation of ...
(CIO) by unions that were expelled by the A.F. of L. in 1935. The Federation was founded and dominated by
craft unions. especially the building trades. In the late 1930s craft affiliates expanded by organizing on an
industrial union
Industrial unionism is a trade union organizing method through which all workers in the same industry are organized into the same union, regardless of skill or trade, thus giving workers in one industry, or in all industries, more leverage in ...
basis to meet the challenge from the CIO. The A.F. of L. and CIO competed bitterly in the late 1930s, but then cooperated during World War II and after. In 1955, the two merged to create the
AFL–CIO
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 12 million ac ...
, which has comprised the longest lasting and most influential labor federation in the United States to this day.
Organizational history
Origins
The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was organized as an association of trade unions in 1886. The organization emerged from a dispute with the
Knights of Labor (K of L) organization, in which the leadership of that organization solicited locals of various
craft unions to withdraw from their International organizations and to affiliate with the K of L directly, an action which would have moved funds from the various unions to the K of L. The
Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions also merged into what would become the American Federation of Labor.
One of the organizations embroiled in this controversy was the
Cigar Makers' International Union
The Journeymen Cigar Makers' International Union of America (CMIU) was a labor union established in 1864 that represented workers in the cigar industry. The CMIU was part of the American Federation of Labor from 1887 until its merger in 1974.
Org ...
(CMIU), a group subject to competition from a
dual union, a rival "Progressive Cigarmakers' Union," organized by members suspended or expelled by the CMIU.
[Foner, ''History of the Labor Movement in the United States: Volume 2,'' pg. 134.] The two cigar unions competed with one another in signing contracts with various cigar manufacturers, who were at this same time combining themselves into
manufacturers' associations of their own in New York City,
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...
,
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...
, Chicago, and
Milwaukee
Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee i ...
.
In January 1886, the Cigar Manufacturers' Association of New York City announced a 20 percent wage cut in factories around the city. The Cigar Makers' International Union refused to accept the cut and 6,000 of its members in 19 factories were
locked out by the owners. A
strike lasting four weeks ensued.
[Foner, ''History of the Labor Movement in the United States: Volume 2,'' pg. 135.] 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.
The leadership of the CMIU was enraged and demanded that the New York District Assembly be investigated and punished by the national officials of the Knights of Labor. The committee of investigation was controlled by individuals friendly to the New York District Assembly, however, and the latter was exonerated. The American Federation of Labor was thus originally formed as an alliance of craft unions outside the Knights of Labor as a means of defending themselves against this and similar incursions.
[Foner, ''History of the Labor Movement in the United States: Volume 2,'' pg. 136.]
On April 25, 1886, a circular letter was issued by
Adolph Strasser
Adolph Strasser (1843-1939), born in the Austro-Hungarian empire, was an American trade union organizer. Strasser is best remembered as a founder of the United Cigarmakers Union and the American Federation of Labor (AF of L). Strasser was addition ...
of the Cigar Makers and
P. J. McGuire of the Carpenters, addressed to all national trade unions and calling for their attendance of a conference in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...
on May 18. 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."
The call was signed by Strasser and McGuire, along with representatives of the Granite Cutters, the Iron Molders, and the secretary of the
Federation of Trades of North America, a forerunner of the A.F. of L. founded in 1881.
Forty-three invitations were mailed, which drew the attendance of 20 delegates and letters of approval from 12 other unions. At this preliminary gathering, held in Donaldson Hall on the corner of Broad and Filbert Streets, the K of L was charged with conspiring with anti-union bosses to provide labor at below going union rates and with making use of individuals who had
crossed picket lines or defaulted on payment of union dues.
[Foner, ''History of the Labor Movement in the United States: Volume 2,'' pg. 137.] The body authored a "treaty" to be presented to the forthcoming May 24, 1886, convention of the Knights of Labor, which demanded that the K of L cease attempting to organize members of International Unions into its own assemblies without permission of the unions involved and that K of L organizers violating this provision should suffer immediate suspension.
For its part, the Knights of Labor considered the demand for the parcelling of the labor movement into narrow craft-based fiefdoms to be anathema, a violation of the principle of solidarity of all workers across craft lines. Negotiations with the dissident craft unions were nipped in the bud by the governing General Assembly of the K of L, however, with the organization's Grand Master Workman,
Terence V. Powderly refusing to enter into serious discussions on the matter. The actions of the New York District Assembly of the K of L were upheld.
Formation and early years
Convinced that no accommodation with the leadership of the Knights of Labor was possible, the heads of the five labor organizations which issued the call for the April 1886 conference issued a new call for a convention to be held December 8, 1886, in
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, an ...
, in order to construct "an American federation of alliance of all national and international trade unions." Forty-two delegates representing 13 national unions and various other local labor organizations responded to the call, agreeing to form themselves into an American Federation of Labor.
Revenue for the new organization was to be raised on the basis of a "per-capita tax" of its member organizations, set at the rate of one-half cent per member per month (i.e. six cents per year, equal to $ today).
[Foner, ''History of the Labor Movement in the United States: Volume 2,'' pg. 143.] Governance of the organization was to be by annual conventions, with one delegate allocated for every 4,000 members of each affiliated union.
The founding convention voted to make the President of the new federation a full-time official at a salary of $1,000 per year (equal to $ today), and
Samuel Gompers of the Cigar Makers' International Union was elected to the position.
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.
Although the founding convention of the A.F. of L. had authorized the establishment of a publication for the new organization, Gompers made use of the existing labor press to generate support for the position of the craft unions against the Knights of Labor. Powerful opinion-makers of the American labor movement such as the Philadelphia ''Tocsin,'' ''Haverhill Labor,'' the ''Brooklyn Labor Press,'' and the ''Denver Labor Enquirer'' granted Gompers space in their pages, in which he made the case for the unions against the attacks of employers, "all too often aided by the K of L."
Headway was made in the form of endorsement by various local labor bodies. Some assemblies of the K of L supported the Cigar Makers' position and departed the organization: in
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...
, 30 locals left the organization, while the membership of the Knights in Chicago fell from 25,000 in 1886 to just 3,500 in 1887. 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."
In the face of the steady disintegration of its rival, the fledgling American Federation of Labor struggled to maintain itself, with the group showing very slow and incremental growth in its first years, only cracking the 250,000 member mark in 1892.
[William C. Roberts (ed.), ''American Federation of Labor: History, Encyclopedia, Reference Book.'' Washington, DC: American Federation of Labor, 1919; pg. 63.] The group from the outset concentrated upon the income and working conditions of its membership as its almost sole focus. The A.F. of L.'s founding convention declaring "higher wages and a shorter workday" to be "preliminary steps toward great and accompanying improvements in the condition of the working people." 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.
This fundamentally conservative "pure and simple" approach limited the A.F. of L. to matters pertaining to working conditions and rates of pay, relegating political goals to its allies in the political sphere. The Federation favored pursuit of workers' immediate demands rather than challenging the property rights of owners, and took a pragmatic view of politics which favored tactical support for particular politicians over formation of a party devoted to workers' interests. The A.F. of L.'s leadership believed the expansion of the capitalist system was seen as the path to betterment of labor, an orientation making it possible for the A.F. of L. to present itself as what one historian has called "the conservative alternative to working class radicalism."
Early 20th century
The A.F. of L. faced its first major reversal when employers launched an
open shop
An open shop is a place of employment at which one is not required to join or financially support a union ( closed shop) as a condition of hiring or continued employment.
Open shop vs closed shop
The major difference between an open and closed ...
movement in 1903, designed to drive unions out of construction, mining, longshore and other industries. Membership in the A.F. of L.'s affiliated unions declined between 1904 and 1914 in the face of this concerted anti-union drive, which made effective use of legal
injunction
An injunction is a legal and equitable remedy in the form of a special court order that compels a party to do or refrain from specific acts. ("The court of appeals ... has exclusive jurisdiction to enjoin, set aside, suspend (in whole or in p ...
s against
strikes, court rulings given force when backed with the armed might of the state.
At its November 1907 Convention in Norfolk, Virginia, the A.F. of L. founded the future
North America's Building Trades Unions
North America's Building Trades Unions (NABTU) is a labor federation of 14 North American unions in the building trade, founded by the American Federation of Labor in 1907.
History
North America's Building Trades Unions was founded by the American ...
(NABTU) as ''Department of Building Trades''.
[Constitution of NABTU]
August 2015, 46 pages
Ever the
pragmatist, Gompers argued that labor should "reward its friends and punish its enemies" in both major parties. However, in the 1900s (decade), the two parties began to realign, with the main faction of the
Republican Party
Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party.
Republican Party may also refer to:
Africa
* Republican Party (Liberia)
*Republican Party ...
coming to identify with the interests of banks and manufacturers, while a substantial portion of the rival
Democratic Party took a more labor-friendly position. While not precluding its members from belonging to the Socialist Party or working with its members, the A.F. of L. traditionally refused to pursue the tactic of independent political action by the workers in the form of the existing Socialist Party or the establishment of a new labor party. After 1908, the organization's tie to the Democratic party grew increasingly strong.
National Civic Federation
Some unions within the A.F. of L. helped form and participated in the
National Civic Federation. The National Civic Federation was formed by several progressive employers who sought to avoid labor disputes by fostering collective bargaining and "responsible" unionism. Labor's participation in this federation, at first tentative, created internal division within the A.F. of L.
Socialists
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the econ ...
, who believed the only way to help workers was to remove large industry from private ownership, denounced labor's efforts at cooperation with the capitalists in the National Civic Federation. The A.F. of L. nonetheless continued its association with the group, which declined in importance as the decade of the 1910s drew to a close.
Canada
By the 1890s, Gompers was planning an international federation of labor, starting with the expansion of A.F. of L. affiliates in Canada, especially Ontario. He helped the Canadian
Trades and Labour Congress
Trade is the voluntary exchange of goods, services, or both.
Trade or trading may also refer to:
Geography
* Trade, Tennessee, an unincorporated community, United States
* Trade City, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community, United States
* ...
with money and organizers, and by 1902, the A.F. of L. came to dominate the Canadian union movement.
Immigration restriction
The A.F. of L. vigorously opposed unrestricted immigration from Europe for moral, cultural, and racial reasons. The issue unified the workers who feared that an influx of new workers would flood the labor market and lower wages.
Nativism was not a factor because upwards of half the union members were themselves immigrants or the sons of immigrants from Ireland, Germany and Britain. Nativism was a factor when the A.F. of L. even more strenuously opposed all immigration from Asia because it represented (to its Euro-American members) an alien culture that could not be assimilated into American society. The A.F. of L. intensified its opposition after 1906 and was instrumental in passing immigration restriction bills from the 1890s to the 1920s, such as the 1921
Emergency Quota Act and the
Immigration Act of 1924
The Immigration Act of 1924, or Johnson–Reed Act, including the Asian Exclusion Act and National Origins Act (), was a United States federal law that prevented immigration from Asia and set quotas on the number of immigrants from the Eastern ...
, and seeing that they were strictly enforced.
Mink (1986) concludes that the link between the A.F. of L. and the
Democratic Party rested in part on immigration issues, noting the large corporations, which supported the Republicans, wanted more immigration to augment their labor force.
Prohibition gained strength as the German American community came under fire. The A.F. of L. was against prohibition as it was viewed as cultural right of the working class to drink.
Coalition against child labor
Child labor was an issue on which the A.F. of L. found common ground with middle class reformers who otherwise kept their distance. The A.F. of L. joined campaigns at the state and national level to limit the employment of children under age 14. In 1904 a major national organization emerged, the
National Child Labor Committee (NCLC). In state after state reformers launched crusades to pass laws restricting child labor, with the ultimate goals of rescuing young bodies and increasing school attendance. The frustrations included the Supreme Court striking down two national laws as unconstitutional, and weak enforcement of state laws due to the political influence of employers.
World War I and after: 1917-1921
The A.F. of L. and its affiliates were strong supporters of the war effort. The risk of disruptions to war production by labor radicals provided the A.F. of L. political leverage to gain recognition and mediation of labor disputes, often in favor of improvements for workers. The A.F. of L. unions avoided strikes in favor of arbitration. Wages soared as near-full employment was reached at the height of the war. The A.F. of L. unions strongly encouraged young men to enlist in the military, and fiercely opposed efforts to reduce recruiting and slow war production by pacifists, the anti-war
Industrial Workers of the World
The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines general ...
(IWW) and the radical faction of Socialists. To keep factories running smoothly,
President Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of P ...
established the
National War Labor Board in 1918, which forced management to negotiate with existing unions. Wilson also appointed A.F. of L. president Gompers to the powerful
Council of National Defense
The Council of National Defense was a United States organization formed during World War I to coordinate resources and industry in support of the war effort, including the coordination of transportation, industrial and farm production, financial ...
, where he set up the
War Committee on Labor.
The A. F. of L. was strongly committed to the national war aims and cooperated closely with Washington. It used the opportunity to grow rapidly. It worked out an informal agreement with the United States government, in which the A.F. of L. would coordinate with the government both to support the war effort and to join "into an alliance to crush radical labor groups" that opposed the war effort, especially the
Industrial Workers of the World
The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines general ...
and
Socialist Party of America
The Socialist Party of America (SPA) was a socialist political party in the United States formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party of Ameri ...
.
Gompers chaired the wartime Labor Advisory Board. He attended the
Paris Peace Conference in 1919 as an official advisor on labor issues.
In 1920, the A.F. of L. petitioned Washington for the release of prisoners who had been convicted under Wartime Emergency Laws. Wilson did not act but President Warren Harding did so.
1919--the first year of peace--was one of turmoil in the labor movement. A.F. of L. membership soared to 2.4 million in 1917 and 4.1 million at the end of 1919. The A.F. of L. unions tried to make their gains permanent and called a series of major strikes in meat, steel and other industries. The strikes ultimately failed. Many African Americans had taken war jobs; other became strikebreakers in 1919. Racial tensions were high, with major race riots. The economy was very prosperous during the war but entered a postwar recession. In general, workers lost out and the A.F. of L. lost influence.
1920s
In the pro-business environment of the 1920s, business launched a large-scale offensive on behalf of the so-called "
open shop
An open shop is a place of employment at which one is not required to join or financially support a union ( closed shop) as a condition of hiring or continued employment.
Open shop vs closed shop
The major difference between an open and closed ...
", which meant that a person did not have to be a union member to be hired. A.F. of L. unions lost membership steadily until 1933. In 1924, following the death of Samuel Gompers,
UMWA member and A.F. of L. vice president
William Green became the president of the labor federation.
The organization endorsed pro-labor progressive
Robert M. La Follette in the 1924 presidential election. He only carried his home state of Wisconsin. 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.
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gre ...
in 1928 won the votes of many Protestant A.F. of L. members.
New Deal
The
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
were hard times for the unions, and membership fell sharply across the country. As the national economy began to recover in 1933, so did union membership. The
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Con ...
of president
Franklin D. Roosevelt, a Democrat, strongly favored labor unions. He made sure that relief operations like the
Civilian Conservation Corps
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government unemployment, work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a ...
did not include a training component that would produce skilled workers who would compete with union members in a still glutted market. The major legislation was the
National Labor Relations Act
The National Labor Relations Act of 1935, also known as the Wagner Act, is a foundational statute of United States labor law that guarantees the right of private sector employees to organize into trade unions, engage in collective bargaining, and ...
of 1935, called the
Wagner Act. It greatly strengthened organized unions, especially by weakening the company unions that many workers belonged to. It was to the members advantage to transform a company union into a local of an A.F. of L. union, and thousands did so, dramatically boosting the membership. The Wagner Act also set up to the
National Labor Relations Board, which used its powers to rule in favor of unions and against the companies.
In the early 1930s, A.F. of L. president
William Green (president, 1924–1952) experimented with an industrial approach to organizing in the automobile and steel industries.
The A.F. of L. made forays into
industrial unionism
Industrial unionism is a trade union organizing method through which all workers in the same industry are organized into the same union, regardless of skill or trade, thus giving workers in one industry, or in all industries, more leverage in ...
by chartering federal labor unions, which would organize across an industry and be chartered by the Federation, not through existing craft unions, guilds, or brotherhoods. As early as 1923, the A.F. of L. had chartered federal labor unions, including six news writer locals that had formerly been part of the
International Typographical Union
The International Typographical Union (ITU) was a US trade union for the printing trade for newspapers and other media. It was founded on May 3, 1852, in the United States as the National Typographical Union, and changed its name to the Internat ...
. However, in the 1930s the A.F. of L. began chartering these federal labor unions as an industrial organizing strategy. The dues in these federal labor unions (FLUs) were kept intentionally low to make them more accessible to low paid industrial workers; however, these low dues later allowed the Internationals in the Federation to deny members of FLUs voting membership at conventions. In 1933, Green sent William Collins to Detroit to organize automobile workers into a federal labor union.
That same year workers at the Westinghouse plant in East Springfield MA, members of federal labor union 18476, struck for recognition. In 1933, the A.F. of L. received 1,205 applications for charters for federal labor unions, 1006 of which were granted.
By 1934, the A.F. of L. had successfully organized 32,500 autoworkers using the federal labor union model.
Most of the leadership of the craft union internationals that made up the federation, advocated for the FLU's to be absorbed into existing craft union internationals and for these internationals to have supremacy of jurisdiction.
At the 1933 A.F. of L. convention in Washington, DC John Frey of the
Molders and Metal Trades pushed for craft union internationals to have jurisdictional supremacy over the FLU's; the
Carpenters headed by William Hutchenson and the
IBEW
The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) is a labor union that represents approximately 775,000 workers and retirees in the electrical industry in the United States, Canada, Guam, Panama, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Isl ...
also pushed for FLU's to turn over their members to the authority of the craft internationals between 1933 and 1935. In 1934, one hundred FLUs met separately and demanded that the A.F. of L. continue to issue charters to unions organizing on an industrial basis independent of the existing craft union internationals. In 1935 the FLUs representing autoworkers and rubber workers both held conventions independent of the craft union internationals.
By the 1935 A.F. of L. convention, Green and the advocates of traditional craft unionism faced increasing dissension led by
John L. Lewis of the coal miners, Sidney Hillman of the
Amalgamated
Amalgamation is the process of combining or uniting multiple entities into one form.
Amalgamation, amalgam, and other derivatives may refer to:
Mathematics and science
* Amalgam (chemistry), the combination of mercury with another metal
**Pan ama ...
, David Dubinsky of the
Garment Workers, Charles Howard of the
ITU
The International Telecommunication Union is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for many matters related to information and communication technologies. It was established on 17 May 1865 as the International Telegraph Union ...
, Thomas McMahon of the
Textile Workers, and
Max Zaritsky
Max Zaritsky (1885–1959) was an American union leader of the United Hatters, Cap and Millinery Workers International Union (UHCMW) as well as co-founder of both the American Labor Party and Liberal Party of New York State.
Background
Ma ...
of the Hat, Cap, and Millinery Workers, in addition to the members of the FLU's themselves. Lewis argued that the A.F.of L. was too heavily oriented toward traditional craftsmen, and was overlooking the opportunity to organize millions of semiskilled workers, especially those in industrial factories that made automobiles, rubber, glass and steel. In 1935 Lewis led the dissenting unions in forming a new Congress for Industrial Organization (CIO) within the A.F. of L. Both the new CIO industrial unions, and the older A.F. of L. crafts unions grew rapidly after 1935. President Franklin D. Roosevelt became a hero to them. He won reelection in a landslide in 1936, and by a closer margin in 1940. Labor unions gave strong support in 1940, compared to very strong support in 1936. The Gallup Poll showed CIO voters declined from 85% in 1935 to 79% in 1940. A.F. of L. voters went from 80% to 71%. Other union members went from 74% to 57%. Blue collar workers who were not union members went 72% to 64%.
World War II and merger
The A.F. of L. retained close ties to the Democratic machines in big cities through the 1940s. Its membership surged during the war and it held on to most of its new members after wartime legal support for labor was removed. Despite its close connections to many in Congress, the A.F. of L. was not able to block the
Taft–Hartley Act
The Labor Management Relations Act of 1947, better known as the Taft–Hartley Act, is a Law of the United States, United States federal law that restricts the activities and power of trade union, labor unions. It was enacted by the 80th United S ...
in 1947. Also in 1947, the union supported the
strike efforts of thousands of switchboard operators by donating thousands of dollars.
In 1955, the A.F. of L. and CIO merged to form the
AFL–CIO
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 12 million ac ...
, headed by
George Meany
William George Meany (August 16, 1894 – January 10, 1980) was an American labor union leader for 57 years. He was the key figure in the creation of the AFL–CIO and served as the AFL–CIO's first president, from 1955 to 1979.
Meany, the son ...
.
Historical problems
Racism
During its first years, the A.F. of L. admitted nearly anyone. Gompers opened the A.F. of L. to radical and socialist workers and to some semiskilled and unskilled workers. Women, African Americans, and immigrants joined in small numbers. By the 1890s, the Federation had begun to organize only skilled workers in craft unions and became an organization of mostly white men. Although the Federation preached a policy of egalitarianism in regard to African American workers, it actively discriminated against black workers. The A.F. of L. sanctioned the maintenance of segregated locals within its affiliates—particularly in the construction and railroad industries—a practice which often excluded black workers altogether from union membership and thus from employment in organized industries.
In 1901, the A.F. of L. lobbied Congress to reauthorize the 1882
Chinese Exclusion Act
The Chinese Exclusion Act was a United States federal law signed by President Chester A. Arthur on May 6, 1882, prohibiting all immigration of Chinese laborers for 10 years. The law excluded merchants, teachers, students, travelers, and diplo ...
, and issued a pamphlet entitled "Some reasons for Chinese Exclusion. Meat vs. Rice. American Manhood against Asiatic Coolieism. Which shall survive?". The A.F. of L. 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.
Sexism
In most ways, the AFL's treatment of women workers paralleled its policy towards black workers. The AFL never adopted a strict policy of gender exclusion and, at times, even came out in favor of women's unionism. But despite such rhetoric, the Federation only half-heartedly supported women's attempts to organize and, more often, took pains to keep women out of unions and the workforce altogether. Only two national unions affiliated with the AFL at its founding openly included women, and others passed by-laws barring women's membership entirely. The AFL hired its first female organizer,
Mary Kenney O'Sullivan
Mary Kenney O'Sullivan (January 8, 1864 – January 18, 1943), was an organizer in the early U.S. labor movement. She learned early the importance of unions from poor treatment received at her first job in dressmaking. Making a career in bookbind ...
, only in 1892, released her after five months, and it did not replace her or hire another woman national organizer until 1908. Women who organized their own unions were often turned down in bids to join the Federation, and even women who did join unions found them hostile or intentionally inaccessible. AFL unions often held meetings at night or in bars when women might find it difficult to attend and where they might feel uncomfortable, and male unionists heckled women who tried to speak at meetings.
Generally the AFL viewed women workers as competition, as strikebreakers, or as an unskilled labor reserve that kept wages low. As such, the Federation often opposed women's employment entirely. When it did organize women workers, most often it did so to protect men's jobs and earning power and not to improve the conditions, lives, or wages of women workers. In response, most women workers remained outside the labor movement. In 1900, only 3.3% of working women were organized into unions. In 1910, even as the AFL surged forward in membership, the number had dipped to 1.5%. And while it improved to 6.6% over the next decade, women remained mostly outside of unions and practically invisible inside of them into the mid-1920s.
Attitudes gradually changed within the AFL due to the pressure of organized female workers. Female-domination began to emerge in the first two decades of the 20th century, including particularly the
International Ladies Garment Workers' Union
The International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU), whose members were employed in the women's clothing industry, was once one of the largest labor unions in the United States, one of the first U.S. unions to have a primarily female memb ...
. 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. Through the efforts of middle class reformers and activists, often of the
Women's Trade Union League
The Women's Trade Union League (WTUL) (1903–1950) was a U.S. organization of both working class and more well-off women to support the efforts of women to organize labor unions and to eliminate sweatshop conditions. The WTUL played an importa ...
, these unions joined the AFL.
Conflicts between affiliated unions
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
The International Typographical Union (ITU) was a US trade union for the printing trade for newspapers and other media. It was founded on May 3, 1852, in the United States as the National Typographical Union, and changed its name to the Internat ...
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. In some cases the AFL mediated the dispute, usually favoring the larger or more influential union. The AFL often reversed its jurisdictional rulings over time, as the continuing jurisdictional battles between the Brewers and the Teamsters showed.
Affiliates within the AFL formed "departments" to help resolve these jurisdictional conflicts and to provide a more effective voice for member unions in given industries. The
Metal Trades Department engaged in some organizing of its own, primarily in shipbuilding, where unions such as the
Pipefitters, Machinists and
Iron Workers joined through local metal workers' councils to represent a diverse group of workers. The
Railway Employes' Department dealt with both jurisdictional disputes between affiliates and pursued a common legislative agenda for all of them.
Historical achievements
Organizing and coordination
The A.F. of L. 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
The American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada (AFM/AFofM) is a 501(c)(5) labor union representing professional instrumental musicians in the United States and Canada. The AFM, which has its headquarters in New York City, ...
, helped form the union. The A.F. of L. also used its influence (including refusal of charters or expulsion) to heal splits within affiliated unions, to force separate unions seeking to represent the same or closely related jurisdictions to merge, or to mediate disputes between rival factions where both sides claimed to represent the leadership of an affiliated union. The A.F. of L. also chartered "
federal unions"—local unions not affiliated with any international union—in those fields in which no affiliate claimed jurisdiction.
The A.F. of L. 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. These local labor councils acquired a great deal of influence in some cases. For example, the
Chicago Federation of Labor spearheaded efforts to organize
packinghouse
A packing house is a facility where fruit is received and processed prior to distribution to market.
Bulk fruit (such as apples, oranges, pears, and the like) is delivered to the plant via trucks or wagons, where it is dumped into receiving bins ...
and steel workers during and immediately after World War I. Local building trades councils also became powerful in some areas. In
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...
, the local Building Trades Council, led by Carpenters official
P. H. McCarthy, not only dominated the local labor council but helped elect McCarthy mayor of San Francisco in 1909. In a very few cases early in the A.F. of L.'s history, state and local bodies defied A.F. of L. policy or chose to disaffiliate over policy disputes.
Political action
Though Gompers had contact with
socialists
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the econ ...
and such as A.F. of L. co-founder
Peter J. McGuire
Peter J. McGuire (July 6, 1852 – February 18, 1906) was an American labor leader of the nineteenth century. He co-founded the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America in 1881 along with Gustav Luebkert and became one of the leading ...
, the A.F. of L. adopted a philosophy of "business unionism" that emphasized unions' contribution to businesses' profits and national economic growth. The business unionist approach also focused on skilled workers' immediate job-related interests, while refusing to "rush to the support of any one of the numerous society-saving or society destroying schemes" involved in larger political issues.
This approach was set by Gompers, who was influenced by a fellow cigar maker (and former socialist) Ferdinand Laurrel. Despite his socialist contacts, Gompers himself was not a socialist.
Employers discovered the efficacy of
labor injunctions, first used with great effect by the
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along ...
administration during the
Pullman Strike in 1894. While the A.F. of L. sought to outlaw "
yellow dog contracts
A yellow-dog contract (a yellow-dog clause of a contract, also known as an ironclad oath) is an agreement between an employer and an employee in which the employee agrees, as a condition of employment, not to be a member of a labor union. In th ...
," to limit the courts' power to impose "government by injunction" and to obtain exemption from the
antitrust
Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust ...
laws that were being used to criminalize labor organizing, the courts reversed what few legislative successes the labor movement won.
The A.F. of L. concentrated its political efforts during the last decades of the Gompers administration on securing freedom from state control of unions—in particular an end to the court's use of labor injunctions to block the right to organize or strike and the application of the anti-trust laws to criminalize labor's use of
pickets, boycotts and strikes. The A.F. of L. 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
(Medieval Latin for "Great Charter of Freedoms"), commonly called (also ''Magna Charta''; "Great Charter"), is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by t ...
". But in ''
Duplex Printing Press Co. v. Deering'', 254 U.S. 443 (1921), the
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
narrowly read the Act and codified the federal courts' existing power to issue injunctions rather than limit it. The court read the phrase "between an employer and employees" (contained in the first paragraph of the Act) to refer only to cases involving an employer and its own employees, leaving the courts free to punish unions for engaging in
sympathy strike
Solidarity action (also known as secondary action, a secondary boycott, a solidarity strike, or a sympathy strike) is industrial action by a trade union in support of a strike initiated by workers in a separate corporation, but often the same en ...
s or secondary boycotts.
The A.F. of L.'s pessimistic attitude towards politics did not, on the other hand, prevent affiliated unions from pursuing their own agendas. Construction unions supported legislation that governed entry of contractors into the industry and protected workers' rights to pay, rail and mass production industries sought workplace safety legislation, and unions generally agitated for the passage of
workers' compensation
Workers' compensation or workers' comp is a form of insurance providing wage replacement and medical benefits to employees injured in the course of employment in exchange for mandatory relinquishment of the employee's right to sue his or her emp ...
statutes.
At the same time, the A.F. of L. took efforts on behalf of women in supporting protective legislation. It advocated fewer hours for women workers, and based its arguments on assumptions of female weakness. Like efforts to unionize, most support for protective legislation for women came out of a desire to protect men's jobs. If women's hours could be limited, reasoned A.F. of L. officials, they would infringe less on male employment and earning potential. But the A.F. of L. also took more selfless efforts. Even from the 1890s, the A.F. of L. declared itself vigorously in favor of women's suffrage. It often printed pro-suffrage articles in its periodical, and in 1918, it supported the National Union of Women's Suffrage.
The A.F. of L. relaxed its rigid stand against legislation after the death of Gompers. Even so, it remained cautious. Its proposals for unemployment benefits (made in the late 1920s) were too modest to have practical value, as the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
soon showed. The impetus for the major federal labor laws of the 1930s came from the
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Con ...
. The enormous growth in union membership came after Congress passed the
National Industrial Recovery Act
The National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933 (NIRA) was a US labor law and consumer law passed by the 73rd US Congress to authorize the president to regulate industry for fair wages and prices that would stimulate economic recovery. It also ...
in 1933 and
National Labor Relations Act
The National Labor Relations Act of 1935, also known as the Wagner Act, is a foundational statute of United States labor law that guarantees the right of private sector employees to organize into trade unions, engage in collective bargaining, and ...
in 1935. The A.F. of L. 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. After the A.F. of L. expelled the CIO in 1936, the CIO undertook a major organizing effort. In 1947, when the Taft-Hartley Act was passed, political activities were stirred. In resistance to the new law, the CIO joined the A.F. of L., and political cooperation set the path for union unity. The two groups merged, 8 years later, into the AFL–CIO coalition with George Meany as the new president.
Leadership
Presidents
*
Samuel Gompers, 1886–1894
*
John McBride, 1894–1895
*
Samuel Gompers, 1895–1924
*
William Green, 1924–1952
*
George Meany
William George Meany (August 16, 1894 – January 10, 1980) was an American labor union leader for 57 years. He was the key figure in the creation of the AFL–CIO and served as the AFL–CIO's first president, from 1955 to 1979.
Meany, the son ...
, 1952–1955 (afterwards President of the AFL–CIO)
Secretaries
:1886:
Peter J. McGuire
Peter J. McGuire (July 6, 1852 – February 18, 1906) was an American labor leader of the nineteenth century. He co-founded the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America in 1881 along with Gustav Luebkert and became one of the leading ...
:1889: Chris Evans
:1894:
August McCraith
:1897:
Frank Morrison
:1935: ''Position merged''
Treasurers
:1886:
Gabriel Edmonston
:1890:
John Brown Lennon
John Brown Lennon (October 12, 1850 - January 17, 1923) was an American labor union leader and general-secretary of the Journeymen Tailors Union of America (JTU). In 1890, he was elected treasurer of the American Federation of Labor and served in ...
:1917:
Daniel J. Tobin
:1928:
Martin Francis Ryan
:1935: ''Position merged''
Secretary-Treasureres
:1936:
Frank Morrison
:1939:
George Meany
William George Meany (August 16, 1894 – January 10, 1980) was an American labor union leader for 57 years. He was the key figure in the creation of the AFL–CIO and served as the AFL–CIO's first president, from 1955 to 1979.
Meany, the son ...
:1952:
William F. Schnitzler
Affiliated unions and brotherhoods
: Sources: ''American Labor Year Book, 1926,'' pp. 85–87, 103–172. ''American Labor Press Directory,'' pp. 1–11.
State federations
*
Pennsylvania Federation of Labor
*
Texas State Federation of Labor The Texas State Federation of Labor (TSFL) was the Texas affiliate of the American Federation of Labor (AFL). It was formed in 1900 and disbanded in July 1957, when it merged with the Texas State CIO Council to form the Texas AFL-CIO.
History
...
See also
*
AFL-CIO
*
Labor history of the United States
*
Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions
*
Industrial Workers of the World
The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines general ...
*
Knights of Labor
*
Labor federation competition in the United States
*
Labor unions in the United States
Labor unions in the United States are organizations that represent workers in many industries recognized under US labor law since the 1935 enactment of the National Labor Relations Act. Their activity today centers on collective bargaining over w ...
*
Western Federation of Miners
Further reading
Washington State Federation of Labor Records 1881-1967. 45.44 cubic feet (including 2 microfilm reels, 1 package, and 1 vertical file). At th
Labor Archives of Washington, University of Washington Libraries Special Collections
Harry E.B. Ault Papers 1899-1965. 5.46 cubic feet. At th
Labor Archives of Washington, University of Washington Libraries Special Collections
Leo F. Flynn Papers 1890-1970. 1.09 cubic feet (2 boxes). At th
Labor Archives of Washington, University of Washington Libraries Special Collections
George E. Rennar Papers 1933-1972. approximately 34.73 cubic feet. At th
Labor Archives of Washington, University of Washington Libraries Special Collections
Footnotes
Bibliography and further reading
Primary sources
* American Federation of Labor
''Some Reasons for Chinese Exclusion. Meat vs. Rice. American Manhood against Asiatic Coolieism. Which Shall Survive?''Washington, D.C.: American Federation of Labor, 1901.
* Gompers, Samuel
''American Labor and the War.''New York: George H. Doran Co., n.d.
918
* Gompers, Samuel
''Labor and the Employer.''New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1920.
* Gompers, Samuel. ''Seventy Years of Life and Labor: An Autobiography.'' In two volumes. New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1925.
* ''The Samuel Gompers Papers.'' Currently published in 11 volumes, coverage to 1921. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1991–2009.
Secondary sources
* Arnesen, Eric, ed. ''Encyclopedia of U.S. Labor and Working-Class History'' (2006), 2064pp; 650 articles by expert
excerpt and text search* Baker, Jay N. "The American Federation of Labor" (1912) https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/785647
* Beik, Millie, ed. ''Labor Relations: Major Issues in American History'' (2005) over 100 annotated primary document
excerpt and text search* Boris, Eileen, Nelson Lichtenstein, and Thomas Paterson. ''Major Problems In The History Of American Workers: Documents and Essays'' (2002)
* Brody, David. ''In Labor's Cause: Main Themes on the History of the American Worker'' (1993
excerpt and text search* Brooks, George W.; Derber, Milton; McCabe, David A.; and Taft, Philip (eds.), ''Interpreting the Labor Movement.'' Madison: Industrial Relations Research Association, 1952.
* Browne, Waldo Ralph. ''What's what in the Labor Movement: A Dictionary of Labor Affairs and Labor'' (1921) 577pp; encyclopedia of labor terms, organizations and history
complete text online* Commons, John R, et al. ''History of Labour in the United States.'' esp. ''Vol. 2: 1860–1896'' (1918); ''Vol. 4: Labor Movements, 1896–1932'' (1935).
* Currarino, Rosanne. "The Politics of 'More': The Labor Question and the Idea of Economic Liberty in Industrial America." ''Journal of American History.'' vol. 93, no. 1 (June 2006).
* Dubofsky, Melvyn, and Joseph McCartin. ''Labor in America: A History'' (9th ed. 2017), textbook; originally written by Foster Dulles
* Dubofsky, Melvyn, and Warren Van Tine, eds. ''Labor Leaders in America'' (1987) biographies of key leaders, written by scholar
excerpt and text search* Foner, Philip S. ''History of the Labor Movement in the United States.'' In 10 volumes. New York: International Publishers, 1947–1994; ''Vol. 2: From the Founding of the American Federation of Labor to the Emergence of American Imperialism'' (1955); ''Vol. 3: The Policies and Practices of the American Federation of Labor, 1900–1909'' (1964); ''Vol. 5: The AFL in the Progressive Era, 1910–1915'' (1980); ''Vol. 6: On the Eve of America's Entrance into World War I, 1915–1916'' (1982); ''Vol. 7: Labor and World War I, 1914–1918'' (1987); ''Vol. 8: Post-war Struggles, 1918–1920'' (1988). a view from the Left that is hostile to Gompers
* Galenson, Walter. ''The CIO Challenge to the AFL: A History of the American Labor Movement, 1935–1941'' (1960)
* Greene, Julie. ''Pure and Simple Politics: The American Federation of Labor and Political Activism, 1881–1917'' (1998)
* Karson, Marc. ''American Labor Unions and Politics, 1900–1918.'' Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1958.
* Kersten, Andrew E. ''Labor's home front: the American Federation of Labor during World War II'' (NYU Press, 2006)
online* Lichtenstein, Nelson. ''State of the Union: A Century of American Labor'' (2003
excerpt and text search* Livesay, Harold C. ''Samuel Gompers and Organized Labor in America'' (1993), short biograph
online* McCartin, Joseph A. ''Labor's Great War: The Struggle for Industrial Democracy and the Origins of Modern American Labor Relations, 1912–21''. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1997.
* Mandel, Bernard. ''Samuel Gompers: A Biography'' (1963), highly detailed negative biography
* Mink, Gwendolyn. ''Old Labor and New Immigrants in American Political Development: Union, Party, and State, 1875–1920'' (1986)
* Orth, Samuel Peter
''The Armies of Labor: A Chronicle of the Organized Wage-Earners.''New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1919.
* Roberts, William C. (ed.)
''American Federation of Labor: History, Encyclopedia, Reference Book.''Washington, DC: American Federation of Labor, 1919.
* Taft, Philip. ''The A.F. of L. in the Time of Gompers.'' (Harper, 1957)
online** Taft, Philip. ''The A.F. of L. from the Death of Gompers to the Merger.'' (Harper, 1959
online vol 2Major scholarly studies
* Walker, Roger W. "The AFL and child‐labor legislation: An exercise in frustration." ''Labor History'' 11.3 (1970): 323-340.
External links
*
Unions of the AFL–CIO List and links to AFL–CIO affiliated unions. aflcio.org
George Meany Memorial AFL-CIO Archiveat the
University of Maryland Libraries
The University of Maryland Libraries is the largest university library in the Washington, D.C. - Baltimore area. The university's library system includes eight libraries: six are located on the College Park campus, while the Severn Library, an o ...
(designated as official repository by the AFL–CIO in 2013, succeeding the closed
National Labor College
The National Labor College was a college for union members and their families, union leaders and union staff in Silver Spring, Maryland. Established as a training center by the AFL–CIO in 1969 to strengthen union member education and organizin ...
), consisting of around 40 million documents
{{Authority control
Trade unions established in 1886
1886 establishments in the United States
1886 establishments in Ohio
Anti-immigration politics in the United States
Trade unions disestablished in 1955
AFL–CIO
Defunct trade unions in the United States
Pittsburgh Labor History