December 8 - The American Federation of Labor is Founded

On this day in labor history, the year was 1886.

That was the day thirty-eight tradesmen met in Columbus, Ohio to found the American Federation of Labor.

There was an urgent need to form a new national organization for skilled workers.

The Knights of Labor had organized workers regardless of skill.

They included women and African-Americans among their ranks.

But they were rocked by a sharp and swift decline that year.

There was an anti-labor backlash after the Haymarket incident the previous spring.

Many tradesmen were looking to form a different kind of federation than the Knights had offered.

Julie Greene, author of Pure and Simple Politics, states the new AFL differed from the Knights of Labor on three core issues:

First, these trade unionists were less concerned with the broad social reforms the Knights promoted.

Instead, they wanted to work towards the economic concerns of their members.

They didn’t like the mixed assemblies the Knights insisted upon, which often included nonworkers.

Second, craftsmen hoped for full autonomy of the trade unions within a loose federation.

They didn’t like the centralized structure of the Knights and the dominant role Terrance Powderly played.

Finally, they didn’t like the jurisdictional subordination the Knights subjected the trade unions to.

They elected Samuel Gompers of the Cigar Makers International Union as their first president, who served until his death in 1924.

The early AFL reflected many of the Knight’s traditions, including industrial unions and socialist politics.

They fought for injunction reform and the eight-hour day.

Within fifteen years, the AFL would grow to represent millions in predominantly white, skilled craft unions that embodied business unionism.

In 1935 demands for industrial organizing would split the house of labor and the AFL.