4.3 American Federation of Labor

The American Federation of Labor (AFL) emerged in the late 19th century as a pragmatic, trade-focused alternative to earlier labor organizations. Founded in 1886, the AFL prioritized immediate economic gains for skilled workers through collective bargaining and workplace improvements rather than sweeping political revolution.

Under Samuel Gompers' leadership, the AFL zeroed in on "bread and butter" issues: wages, hours, and working conditions. It rejected radical ideologies, emphasized American values, and operated as a decentralized federation of autonomous craft unions. This approach dominated American labor relations for decades and still shapes how unions operate today.

Origins of AFL

The AFL formed during a period of rapid industrialization when millions of workers faced dangerous conditions, long hours, and low pay. Its creation marked a deliberate turn away from the broader, more radical labor movements that came before it.

Early labor movement context

The Knights of Labor had been the dominant labor organization before the AFL, but it declined sharply after a series of internal conflicts and failed strikes, most notably the 1886 Southwest Railroad Strike. The National Labor Union (1866–1873) had laid some groundwork for organized labor but collapsed during the economic depression of 1873, which itself fueled widespread labor unrest and demands for workers' rights.

The Haymarket Affair of 1886 proved to be a turning point. A bombing at a labor rally in Chicago killed several police officers and led to a massive public backlash against labor radicalism. This event made many labor leaders, including Gompers, conclude that a more moderate, focused approach would be necessary to win public support.

Samuel Gompers' role

Samuel Gompers served as the AFL's first and longest-serving president, holding the position from 1886 to 1924 (with only one year out of office, in 1895). A cigar maker by trade, Gompers developed what he called "pure and simple" unionism, which meant focusing on concrete economic gains rather than utopian visions of social transformation.

• Advocated for craft unionism (organizing by trade) over industrial unionism (organizing entire industries)
• Emphasized collective bargaining and negotiation over political revolution
• Built relationships with employers willing to negotiate, positioning unions as responsible partners
• Shaped the AFL's conservative, gradualist identity that persisted long after his death

Founding principles

The AFL was established in 1886 in Columbus, Ohio, as a federation of craft unions. Its core principles included:

• Skilled workers first. Membership centered on specific trades like carpenters, printers, and cigar makers.
• "Bread and butter" focus. The AFL pursued tangible goals: higher wages, shorter hours, and safer working conditions.
• Rejection of radicalism. The AFL distanced itself from socialism and other radical political ideologies, which set it apart from many European labor movements.
• American identity. AFL leaders emphasized patriotism and American values to win public legitimacy.
• Voluntarism. Gompers believed unions should achieve gains through their own economic power rather than relying on government intervention. He also favored voluntary union membership over mandatory closed shops in most cases.

Organizational structure

The AFL operated as a decentralized federation, meaning the national organization set broad direction while individual unions ran their own affairs. This structure gave affiliated unions flexibility to adapt to the specific conditions of their industries and regions.

Craft unionism approach

Craft unionism organized workers by their specific skill or trade, not by the company or industry they worked in. A single factory might have members of several different AFL unions: one for electricians, another for machinists, another for carpenters.

This approach gave skilled workers strong bargaining power because their specialized skills were hard to replace. But it also created problems. Unskilled and semi-skilled workers were largely left out, and jurisdictional disputes between unions in the same workplace were common. This stood in sharp contrast to industrial unionism, which organized all workers in an industry into a single union regardless of skill level.

Leadership and governance

• An Executive Council served as the main governing body between conventions
• The president and secretary-treasurer were elected by convention delegates
• Annual conventions set policies, resolved disputes, and elected officers
• State and local labor federations coordinated regional activities
• A department system grouped similar unions into functional categories (building trades, metal trades, etc.)

Affiliated unions

Major affiliated unions included:

• International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW)
• United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America
• International Association of Machinists (IAM)
• American Federation of Teachers (AFT)
• United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters

Each affiliated union maintained its own constitution, elected its own officers, and controlled its own treasury. The national AFL could advise and coordinate, but it couldn't dictate to member unions.

Key strategies and tactics

The AFL built its reputation on practical, achievable goals. Rather than trying to overthrow capitalism or restructure society, it sought incremental improvements through negotiation and economic pressure. This earned it a reputation as "business unionism," friendly enough to employers that many were willing to come to the table.

Collective bargaining emphasis

Collective bargaining was the AFL's primary tool. The process worked like this:

1. A union would present demands to an employer covering wages, hours, and working conditions.
2. Professional negotiators and sometimes labor lawyers represented the union in discussions.
3. The goal was a written contract specifying terms both sides agreed to.
4. Contracts included grievance procedures so disputes could be resolved without strikes.
5. The AFL emphasized mutual gains, arguing that stable labor relations benefited employers too.

This approach was a major innovation. Before the AFL, most labor disputes were informal and often violent. Written contracts and structured negotiations brought predictability to labor relations.

Political neutrality policy

The AFL officially avoided aligning with any political party. Instead, Gompers followed a strategy of "rewarding friends and punishing enemies" at the ballot box.

• The AFL lobbied for pro-labor legislation without formally endorsing candidates
• Union members were encouraged to vote based on candidates' labor records
• This flexibility allowed the AFL to work with whichever party or administration was more sympathetic to labor at any given time

In practice, this neutrality eroded over time, especially as the AFL grew closer to the Democratic Party during the New Deal era.

Strike actions and boycotts

Strikes were treated as a last resort, used only after negotiations broke down. The AFL developed several sophisticated tactics:

• Strike funds supported workers financially during work stoppages
• Secondary boycotts targeted businesses that continued dealing with a struck company
• Sympathy strikes brought workers from other trades into the conflict to increase pressure
• Rotating and selective strikes hit employers at strategic points rather than shutting everything down at once

This disciplined approach to strikes helped the AFL maintain its image as a responsible organization, even when conflicts turned bitter.

Major historical events

Several key conflicts tested the AFL's strategies and exposed both the strengths and weaknesses of its craft-based approach.

Homestead Strike of 1892

The Homestead Strike took place at Andrew Carnegie's steel plant in Homestead, Pennsylvania. The AFL-affiliated Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers struck after the company tried to break the union and cut wages.

The conflict turned violent when the company hired Pinkerton detectives to retake the plant. A pitched battle between strikers and Pinkertons left multiple people dead on both sides. The state militia eventually intervened, and the strike collapsed. The defeat devastated the union and effectively kept the steel industry non-union for decades. It also exposed a key limitation of craft unionism: in large-scale industrial settings, organizing only skilled workers wasn't enough to shut down production.

Pullman Strike of 1894

This nationwide railroad strike was led by Eugene V. Debs and the American Railway Union (ARU), not the AFL directly. When workers at the Pullman Palace Car Company struck over wage cuts, railroad workers across the country refused to handle Pullman cars, paralyzing rail traffic.

The AFL initially expressed support but pulled back as violence escalated and federal troops were deployed. President Grover Cleveland used a court injunction to break the strike, and Debs was jailed. The episode reinforced the AFL's cautious stance toward large-scale industrial conflicts and its preference for craft-based organizing over industry-wide action.

AFL vs. IWW rivalry

The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), founded in 1905, represented everything the AFL opposed. The IWW called for "One Big Union" that would unite all workers regardless of skill, race, or nationality, with the ultimate goal of overthrowing capitalism.

• The AFL attacked the IWW's radical tactics and socialist ideology
• The IWW criticized the AFL for ignoring unskilled workers and minorities
• Competition between the two pushed both organizations to increase their organizing efforts
• The AFL emphasized its "American" identity to contrast with the IWW's internationalism

This rivalry highlighted a fundamental tension in the American labor movement: should unions pursue incremental gains within the existing system, or push for revolutionary change?

Impact on labor rights

The AFL's gradualist approach produced real, lasting results, even if progress was slow and uneven. Its focus on skilled workers sometimes limited how broadly those gains spread, but many of the workplace standards Americans take for granted today trace back to AFL campaigns.

Eight-hour workday campaign

The AFL made the eight-hour workday one of its signature causes from the very beginning. On May 1, 1886, the AFL organized nationwide strikes and demonstrations demanding the eight-hour day. (This date became the origin of May Day as an international workers' holiday.)

Progress came in stages:

1. The AFL first won the eight-hour day for federal government employees through lobbying.
2. Individual unions then negotiated eight-hour provisions in their collective bargaining agreements, industry by industry.
3. The campaign took decades, but by the early 20th century the eight-hour day was becoming standard in many industries.
4. It was finally enshrined in federal law with the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.

Workplace safety improvements

• Advocated for the creation of the Bureau of Labor Statistics to track workplace injuries and conditions
• Lobbied for state and federal workplace safety regulations
• Negotiated safety provisions directly into collective bargaining agreements
• Promoted the use of joint safety committees in unionized workplaces
• Supported workers' compensation laws that provided benefits to injured workers, replacing the old system where injured employees had to sue their employers

Child labor opposition

The AFL campaigned against child labor, particularly in hazardous industries like mining and textile manufacturing. It supported state-level restrictions and lobbied for federal legislation, including the Keating-Owen Act of 1916, which banned the sale of goods produced by child labor. (The Supreme Court struck down that law in Hammer v. Dagenhart in 1918, and federal child labor restrictions weren't permanently established until the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.)

The AFL also promoted education as an alternative to child labor and collaborated with Progressive Era reformers who shared this goal.

AFL and politics

Despite its official neutrality, the AFL became increasingly political over time, adapting its strategies as economic and social conditions changed.

Progressive Era alliances

During the Progressive Era (roughly 1900–1920), the AFL found common ground with reform-minded politicians and activists on several issues:

• Workplace safety and child labor restrictions
• Creation of the Department of Labor in 1913
• Workers' compensation laws at the state level
• Immigration restrictions to protect American workers' wages (a controversial position that aligned the AFL with nativist movements)

The AFL supported specific progressive social reforms while maintaining a generally conservative economic stance, particularly its preference for union self-reliance over government programs.

New Deal support

The AFL was initially wary of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, concerned that government intervention in labor relations might undermine union independence. But the benefits proved too significant to resist.

• The AFL played a key role in drafting and passing the National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act) of 1935, which guaranteed workers the right to organize and bargain collectively.
• New Deal protections led to a surge in union membership and power.
• The AFL's relationship with the Democratic Party deepened during this period and remained strong for decades afterward.

Anti-communist stance

The AFL took a firmly anti-communist position, especially as Cold War tensions escalated:

• Expelled communist-led unions from the federation during the 1930s
• Supported the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947, which (among other provisions) required union leaders to sign affidavits swearing they were not communists
• Collaborated with government agencies to identify and remove suspected communists from unions

This stance aligned the AFL with U.S. Cold War foreign policy and strengthened its ties to the business community, but it also meant the AFL sometimes participated in political repression that targeted legitimate labor activists.

Racial and gender policies

The AFL's record on race and gender is one of the most criticized aspects of its history. Its policies often reinforced the discrimination that was widespread in American society, even as it claimed to represent workers' interests.

Exclusionary practices

Many AFL-affiliated unions restricted membership based on race, either through formal rules or informal practices.

• Some unions created separate "Jim Crow" locals for Black workers, which had less power and fewer resources than white locals
• Other unions excluded non-white workers entirely
• AFL leaders often justified these practices as protecting white workers' economic interests
• The degree of exclusion varied by region and trade. Some unions, particularly in northern cities, were more inclusive than others.

These exclusionary practices meant that the AFL's gains primarily benefited white, skilled, male workers, leaving out large segments of the workforce.

Women's auxiliary groups

Women were largely shut out of AFL union leadership. Instead, the AFL established women's auxiliary groups for wives and daughters of male union members. These groups:

• Supported strikes through fundraising and community organizing
• Organized social events and political advocacy campaigns
• Had limited direct influence on union decision-making
• Gradually evolved to advocate for women's labor rights and full union membership

These auxiliaries served as an imperfect stepping stone toward greater women's participation in the labor movement.

Civil rights movement tensions

By the 1940s, AFL leadership officially opposed racial discrimination, but many affiliated unions continued discriminatory practices on the ground. This gap between official policy and actual practice created ongoing tension.

• A. Philip Randolph, leader of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (an AFL affiliate), was one of the most persistent voices pushing for racial inclusion within the federation
• Civil rights organizations pressured the AFL to enforce its anti-discrimination policies
• The 1955 merger with the CIO (which had a stronger record on racial inclusion) increased internal pressure for civil rights reform

Merger with CIO

The 1955 merger of the AFL and the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) created the largest labor federation in the United States, combining the strengths of craft unionism and industrial unionism under one roof.

Reasons for consolidation

By the early 1950s, both organizations faced mounting challenges:

• Union membership was declining in the post-World War II era
• Employers and government were increasingly hostile to organized labor
• Jurisdictional disputes between AFL and CIO unions wasted resources and weakened both organizations
• A unified federation could present a stronger front in politics and organizing
• New industries needed to be organized, and competition between the two federations made that harder

AFL-CIO formation process

1. Merger discussions began in the early 1950s after both federations recognized the costs of division.
2. A no-raiding agreement was signed in 1953 to stop the two organizations from competing for each other's members.
3. The merger was completed in 1955, with George Meany (from the AFL side) as the first president.
4. The combined federation represented approximately 15 million workers.
5. The new structure retained elements of both craft and industrial unionism.

Post-merger influence

The AFL-CIO became the dominant voice of American labor:

• Increased political influence through unified lobbying, particularly on civil rights legislation in the 1960s
• Faced growing challenges from globalization and deindustrialization starting in the 1970s
• Struggled to maintain membership levels as manufacturing jobs moved overseas and the economy shifted toward service industries

Legacy and modern relevance

The AFL's approach to labor organizing shaped American industrial relations for over a century. Its core principles, particularly collective bargaining and pragmatic, incremental gains, remain the foundation of how most American unions operate today.

AFL's lasting contributions

• Established collective bargaining as the primary method of labor-management relations in the U.S.
• Developed the model of business unionism focused on economic gains rather than political revolution
• Created enduring institutions: labor law frameworks, arbitration systems, and union organizational structures
• Demonstrated that a gradualist, pragmatic approach could produce real improvements in workers' lives
• Helped establish organized labor as a legitimate participant in the American economic system

Contemporary labor movement impact

• The AFL-CIO remains the largest labor federation in the United States
• Collective bargaining principles established by the AFL are still central to union-management relations
• The political strategies Gompers pioneered continue to influence how unions engage with elections and legislation
• The old tension between craft and industrial unionism still surfaces in debates about how to organize new sectors of the economy

Challenges in the 21st century

• Union membership has declined significantly in traditional industries
• Organizing workers in the gig economy and non-traditional employment arrangements presents new difficulties
• The labor movement must balance the needs of an increasingly diverse workforce across gender, race, and immigration status
• Globalization and technological change continue to reshape labor markets
• Rebuilding public support for organized labor remains an ongoing challenge in a shifting political landscape