…by the merger of the AFL (founded
1886), which originally organized workers in craft unions, and the CIO (founded 1935), which organized workers by industries.
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development of trade unions
In trade union: Legal precedents
The founding of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) by several unions of skilled workers in 1886 marked the beginning of a continuous large-scale
labour movement in the United States. Its member groups comprised national trade or craft unions that organized local unions and negotiated wages, hours, and working…
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In organized labour: Origins of craft unionism
…December 1886 and formed the American Federation of Labor (AFL). The immediate aim was to drive the Knights from the industrial field, and, thanks largely to the Knights’ own confusion and to employers’ counterattacks, this was speedily accomplished. But more important in the long run was the permanent stamp that…
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Women’s Trade Union League
In
Women’s Trade Union League
…token financial support from the American Federation of Labor (AFL) or other major organized labour groups.
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contribution of
Gompers
In Samuel Gompers
…and first president of the American Federation of Labor (AFL).
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Knights
of Labor
In Knights of Labor
…fostered the establishment of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) in December 1886. The AFL focused on winning economic benefits for its members through
collective bargaining. As a federation, it represented several national craft unions that each retained autonomous operations. The Knights, by contrast, represented both craft and unskilled workers…
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Lewis
In John L. Lewis
…became an organizer for the
American Federation of Labor (AFL), with which the miners’ union was affiliated. Lewis became a vice president of the UMWA in 1917, acting president in 1919, and president in 1920, by which time the UMWA had become the largest trade union in the United States.…
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Randolph
In A. Philip Randolph
…half the affiliates of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) barred Blacks from membership, took his union into the AFL. Despite opposition, he built the first successful Black trade union; the
brotherhood won its first major contract with the Pullman Company in 1937. The following year, Randolph removed his union…
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O’Sullivan
In Mary Kenney O’Sullivan
…Samuel Gompers, president of the American Federation of Labor, appointed
her the federation’s first woman general organizer. During the year she held the post, she organized garment workers in New York City and Troy, New York, and printers, binders, shoe workers, and carpet weavers in Massachusetts. She then returned to…
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significance to
Canadian Labour Congress
In
Canadian Labour Congress
…unions, many affiliated with the American Federation of Labor (AFL).
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Pittsburgh
In Pittsburgh: History
…labour and management, and the American Federation of Labor was born there in 1881.
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United States
In United States: The Haymarket
Riot
…union movement passed to the American Federation of Labor (AFL). This was a loose federation of local and craft unions, organized first in 1881 and reorganized in 1886. For a few years there was some nominal cooperation between the Knights and the AFL, but the basic organization and philosophy of…