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.
  • The AFL was at its most influential during Woodrow Wilson's administration.
  • Generally the AFL viewed women and black workers as competition, strikebreakers, or an unskilled labor reserve that kept wages low.
  • 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.

• 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.

• A New Labor Force

  • Samuel Gompers, head of the American Federation of Labor (AFL), and nearly all labor unions were strong supporters of the war effort.
  • The AFL membership soared to 2.4 million in 1917.
  • The AFL unions strongly encouraged their young men to enlist in the military and fiercely opposed efforts to reduce recruiting and slow war production by the anti-war groups like the International Workers of the World (IWW) and left-wing Socialists.
  • In 1919, the AFL tried to make their gains permanent and called a series of major strikes in meat, steel, and other industries.

• The Rise of Unions

  • The American Federation of Labor (AFL) gradually took their place in the labor movement.
  • During its first years, the AFL admitted nearly every laboring group without discrimination.
  • Gompers, notably, opened the AFL to radical and socialist workers and to some semiskilled and unskilled workers.
  • In many respects, the AFL's treatment of women workers paralleled its policy towards black workers.
  • However, these attitudes gradually changed within the AFL due to the pressure of organized female workers.