The American Federation of Labor

I. ConditionsA. The Problem of LegitimacyB. The Craft Economy

II. Understanding the AFLA. Origins, Leaders, & MembersB. Class identityC. Organizational consciousnessD. Craft governanceE. Political action

III. ProblemsA. FactionalismB. TemptationC. ExclusivityD. Cynicism

The Problem of

Legitimacy• How do you maintain

an organization that has no legal existence?

• How do you enforce a contract when you have no legal standing?

Bartenders’ union, shop cards

The Craft Economy

• Bricklayers, carpenters, plumbers, flat janitors, stationary engineers, and realtors, shopkeepers, butchers and bakers, barbers, tailors, launderers, teamsters, teaming contractors, longshoremen, and sailors

South Water Street Market, Chicago, 1908

Origins, Leaders, & Members

• Founded 1881

• Grows to 1.7M by 1904

• Roots– European craft

radicalism– Irish nationalism– American labor

republicanism Samuel Gompers, AFL president

William Pomeroy

P.J. Maguire

Class relations

• With employers– From explosive to

contractual

• With other workers– Sympathy

• Chicago Teamsters’ strike of 1905

Pennsylvania militia, waiting for Homestead strikers

Organization

• Legitimacy– Employer recognition– Charter– Union cards, labels,

buttons

• Jurisdiction

• Perfection

• Homogeneity– Apprenticeship– Patrimony

Teamsters displaying their banner, c. 1900

Craft governance

• Goal– Market control

• Enforcement– Walking

delegates– Arbitration

boards

• Punishments– Strikes– Fines– Boycotts– Expulsion

Chicago bill posters picketing worksite

Political action

• AFL declines to endorse an independent labor party

• But local unions are intensely involved in local politics.

Labor day float, Chicago, 1904

Factionalism

• Craft lines lead to jurisdictional battles– United Assn.

of Plumbers battles Intl. Assn. of Steamfitters for over ten years

Widow of slain labor union officer, c. 1912

Temptation

• Craft governance creates ample opportunities for graft.

Chicago building trades unionists, Michael “Umbrella Mike” Boyle and

Martin “Skinny” Madden

Exclusivity• Some unions

were egalitarian

• Others had segregated locals

• Desire for market control prompts leaders to institutionalize their prejudices about blacks, Asians, and women

Delegates to the 2nd annual convention, Hotel and Restaurant Employees, 1893

Cynicism

• Failures prompt leaders to question:

– Organizing immigrant workers toiling in corporate manufacturing

– Initiating major political reforms

Disgraced teamsters’ president Cornelius Shea, c. 1903