AFL

Examples of AFL in the following topics:

• AFL and WWI

  • The AFL (American Federation of Labor) was at its most influential during Woodrow Wilson's administration.
  • During its first years, the AFL admitted nearly every laboring group without discrimination.
  • In many respects, the AFL's treatment of women workers paralleled its policy towards black workers.
  • In some cases, the AFL expelled the offending union by rescinding charters.
  • Describe the AFL's contribution to the labor movement and common critiques lodged against it

• The Diversity of Workers

  • The American Federation of Labor (AFL) offered more support to white men than to women and non-whites.
  • During its first years, the AFL admitted nearly anyone.
  • Gompers opened the AFL to radical and socialist workers and to some semiskilled and unskilled workers.
  • In 1910, even as the AFL surged forward in membership, the proportion had dipped to 1.5%.
  • The AFL bridged these differences on an ad hoc basis.

• The Great Steel Strike

  • The AFL's strategy was twofold.
  • Second, the federation would create staff-driven unions run from national AFL headquarters.
  • Distrusting immigrant workers to manage their own affairs, the AFL intended to run unions for them.
  • The AFL sought assistance from its political allies, but the harassment continued.
  • The AFL pushed back.

• Work in Industrial America

  • During its first years, the AFL admitted nearly anyone.
  • Gompers opened the AFL to radical and socialist workers and to some semiskilled and unskilled workers.
  • In most ways, the AFL's treatment of women workers paralleled its policy towards black workers.
  • Attitudes gradually changed within the AFL, due to the pressure of organized female workers.
  • In some cases the AFL mediated the dispute, usually favoring the larger or more influential union.

• A New Direction for Unions

  • The CIO formed unions with the hope of bringing them into the AFL, but in the end, the AFL rejected the idea of a more open and inclusive form of organization that would unionize workers regardless of craft or skills.
  • In 1938, the AFL expelled the CIO and its members.
  • The AFL's long history of the exclusion of immigrant workers, women workers, and workers of color gradually made the AFL out of touch with the realities of the American industrial labor.
  • Historians have extensively discussed the racist stand of the AFL (A.
  • Both the AFL and the CIO supported Roosevelt in 1940 and 1944.

• Gompers and the AFL

  • He promoted harmony among the different craft unions that comprised the AFL, trying to minimize jurisdictional battles.
  • He also encouraged the AFL to take political action to "elect their friends" and "defeat their enemies. " During World War I, Gompers and the AFL openly supported the war effort, attempting to avoid strikes and boost morale while raising wage rates and expanding membership.
  • Under Gompers' tutelage, the AFL coalition gradually gained strength, undermining the position previously held by the Knights of Labor, which as a result had almost vanished by 1900.
  • Labor Historian Melvyn Dubofsky has written, "By 1896 Gompers and the AFL were moving to make their peace with Capitalism and the American system.
  • Although the AFL had once preached the inevitability of class conflict and the need to abolish 'wage slavery', it slowly and almost imperceptibly began to proclaim the virtues of class harmony and the possibilities of a more benevolent Capitalism. "

• Progressivism for Whites Only

  • In its first years, the AFL admitted nearly every laboring group without discrimination.
  • Samuel Gompers, founder of the AFL, opened the Federation to radical and socialist workers and to some semiskilled and unskilled workers.
  • The AFL was at its most influential during Woodrow Wilson's administration.
  • Such racist policies in the AFL did not only apply to African Americans.
  • In 1901, the AFL lobbied Congress to reauthorize the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act.

• Modern Labor Organizations

  • The American Federation of Labor (AFL) was one of the first federations of labor unions in the United States.
  • The AFL was the largest union grouping in the United States for the first half of the twentieth century, even after the creation of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) by unions that were expelled by the AFL in 1935 over its opposition to industrial unionism.
  • In 1955, the AFL merged with its longtime rival, the CIO, to form the AFL-CIO, a federation which remains in place to this day.
  • The Change to Win Federation, which split from the AFL-CIO in 2005-2006.
  • The AFL-CIO is especially concerned with global trade and economical issues.

• Depression and Post-War Victories

  • Although AFL membership fell to fewer than 3 million amidst large-scale unemployment, widespread economic hardship created sympathy for working people.
  • In 1938, the AFL expelled the unions that had formed the CIO.
  • The CIO quickly established its own federation using a new name, the Congress of Industrial Organizations, which became a full competitor with the AFL.
  • In light of this swing against labor, the AFL and CIO moved away from their feuding and finally merged in 1955, forming the AFL-CIO.
  • George Meany, who was president of the AFL, became president of the new organization.

• Labor and Domestic Tensions

  • It was a coalition of unions, each based on strong local chapters; the AFL coordinated their work in cities and prevented jurisdictional battles.
  • The AFL worked to control the local labor market, thereby empowering its locals to obtain higher wages and more control over hiring.
  • As a result, the AFL unions spread to most cities, reaching a peak membership in 1919.