Date post: | 21-Dec-2015 |
Category: |
Documents |
View: | 220 times |
Download: | 1 times |
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