Книга: American Federation Of Labor «Report of the Proceedings of the Annual Convention of the American Federation of Labor»
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ISBN: 9781148877532 |
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American Federation of Labor
Infobox Union
name= A.F. of L., AFL
full_name= American Federation of Labor
founded=
country=
office=
people=
website=
affiliation=
members=
native_name=
current=
head=
dissolved_date=
dissolved_state= Merged into
merged_into=
footnotes= The American Federation of Labor (AFL) was one of the first federations of labor unions in the
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
The AFL represented a conservative "pure and simple unionism" that stressed foremost the concern with working conditions, pay and control over jobs, relegating political goals to a minor role. [Currarino 2006] Unlike the
Early years
AFL was formed in large part because of the dissatisfaction of many trade union leaders with the
The AFL grew steadily in the late nineteenth century while the Knights went into decline. The Knights lost a series of large strikes which cost the organization many members. Employer opposition rose (particularly after the
It took on three major functions that its affiliates could not accomplish alone. First, it organized unorganized workers. It spread information, brought union leaders into contact, and gave financial support to newly organized unions. Out of its national offices it published a periodical, "The American Federationist", and employed a staff of organizers and administrators.
Early membership and exclusion
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. Women, African Americans, and immigrants joined in small numbers. But by the 1890s, the Federation had begun to organize only skilled workers in craft unions and became an organization of mostly white men.
Though the Federation preached a policy of egalitarianism in regard to African American workers, it actively discriminated against black workers.In 1895, that policy of
The AFL then sanctioned the creation of segregated locals within its affiliates — particularly in the construction and railroad industries — which actively excluded black workers altogether from union membership, and from employment in the industries they had organized. The AFL also actively supported legislation, such as literacy tests, that would reduce unskilled immigration from Eastern and Southern Europe.
In 1901, the AFL lobbied Congress to reauthorize the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, and issued a pamphlet entitled "Some reasons for Chinese exclusion. Which shall survive?" The AFL also began one of the first organized labor
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,
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. [ Alice Kessler-Harris, “Where Are the Organized Women Workers?” Feminist Studies, Vol. 3, No. 1. (Autumn, 1975), 96. ]
Expansion and competition
The AFL was left as the only major national union body after the demise of the Knights of Labor in the 1890s. It subsequently brought in a number of unions formed on industrial union lines, including the
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
The AFL faced its first major reversal when employers launched an
While the AFL together with its offspring, the
Conflicts between affiliated unions
From the outset, 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
These jurisdictional disputes were most frequent in the building trades, where a number of different unions might claim the right to have work assigned to their members. 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. While those fears were partly borne out in practice, as the Building Trades Department did acquire a great deal of practical power gained through resolving jurisdictional disputes between affiliates, the danger that it might serve as the basis for schism never materialized.
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 together through local metal workers' councils to represent a diverse group of workers. The
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. These local labor councils acquired a great deal of influence in some cases. For example, the
Workers could also form organizations within the AFL to promote their cause in ways the AFL failed to accomplish. Between 1903 and 1917, women organized into a number of unions composed largely or exclusively of women. The most important and largest women’s union was the socialist
Political activities
While the organization was founded by socialists such as Gompers and
The AFL showed no interest in supporting a
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. Over time, after repeated disappointments with the failure of labor's legislative efforts to protect workers' rights, which the courts had struck down as unconstitutional, Gompers became almost anti-political, opposing some forms of protective legislation, such as limitations on working hours, because they would detract from the efforts of unions to obtain those same benefits through
The AFL 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 AFL thought that it had achieved the latter with the passage of the
The AFL'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
Unions, including the AFL itself, also welcomed governmental intervention in favor of collective bargaining during World War I. Unions in the packinghouse industry were able to form due to governmental pressure on the largest employers to recognize the unions rather than face a strike. The AFL endorsed the 1924 Presidential campaign of
At the same time, the AFL 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 AFL officials, they would infringe less on male employment and earning potential. But the AFL also took more selfless efforts. Even from the 1890s, the AFL 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. [ Alice Kessler-Harris, Out to Work: A History of Wage Earning Women in the United States. (Oxford: Oxford UP, 1982), 200-202 ]
Some unions within the AFL also helped form and participated in the
The AFL 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
The AFL 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.
The AFL was not able to block the
In 1955, the AFL and CIO reunited as the
Presidents of the American Federation of Labor, 1886-1955
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*William Green 1924-1952
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ee also
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*CIO
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Notes
References
Additional 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. "Seventy Years of Life and Labor: An Autobiography." Nick Salvatore, ed. Rev. and reprinted ed. Ithaca, N.Y.:
* "The Samuel Gompers Papers" [http://www.history.umd.edu/Gompers/index.htm guide] [http://www.history.umd.edu/Gompers/index.htm index vol 1-10, to 1918]
Additional secondary sources
* Bornet, Vaughn Davis. "Labor Politics in a Democratic Republic." Washington, D.C.: Spartan Books, 1964.
* Brooks, George W.; Derber, Milton; McCabe, David A.; and Taft, Philip, eds. "Interpreting the Labor Movement." Madison, Wisc.: Industrial Relations Research Association, 1952. [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=9020699 online]
* Commons, John R, et al. "History of Labour in the United States, Vol. II., 1860-1896," New York City:
* Currarino, Rosanne. "The Politics of 'More': The Labor Question and the Idea of Economic Liberty in Industrial America." "
* Dubofsky, Melvyn and Van Tine, Warren. "John L. Lewis: A Biography." Reprint ed. Urbana, Ill.:
* Foner, Philip S. "History of the Labor Movement in the United States. Vol. 2: From the Founding of the American Federation of Labor to the Emergence of American Imperialism." New York: International Publishers, 1955. Cloth ISBN 0-7178-0092-X; Paperback ISBN 0-7178-0388-0
* Galenson, Walter. "The CIO Challenge to the AFL: A History of the American Labor Movement." Cambridge, Mass.:
* Greene, Julie. "Pure and Simple Politics: The American Federation of Labor and Political Activism, 1881-1917." New York City: Cambridge University Press, 1998. ISBN 0521433983 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=107379879 online edition]
* Karson, Marc. "American Labor Unions and Politics, 1900-1918." Carbondale, Ill.:
* Lee, R. Alton. "Truman and Taft-Hartley: A Question of Mandate." Lexington, Ky.:
* 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
* Mandel, Bernard. "Samuel Gompers: A Biography." Yellow Springs, Ohio: Antioch Press, 1963. [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=14119763 online edition]
* Orth, Samuel Peter. "The Armies of Labor: A Chronicle of the Organized Wage-Earners." New Haven, Conn.:
* Taft, Philip. "The A.F. of L. in the Time of Gompers." Hardback reprint. New York:
* Taft, Philip. "The A.F. of L. From the Death of Gompers to the Merger." New York: Harper & Brothers, 1959.
External links
* [http://www.history.umd.edu/Gompers/index.htm "Bibliography," Samuel Gompers Papers, University of Maryland]
* [http://www.lexisnexis.com/academic/guides/labor_studies/afl/afla.asp Introductory Summary of AFL History, Lexis-Nexis]
Источник: American Federation of Labor
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