Organizations such as the Knights of Labor and the american Federation of Labor were

From Ohio History Central

Established in 1886, the American Federation of Labor is an umbrella organization for other unions.

In 1881, Samuel Gompers took the lead in organizing the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions of the United States of America and Canada. This organization became the American Federation of Labor (AFL) in 1886, in Columbus, Ohio. Many members of these two groups were disgruntled members of the Knights of Labor, the most influential organization of unions in the United States during the 1870s. Gompers served as the AFL's first president. He remained the organization's president, other than for one year, until his death in 1924. Under Gompers's leadership, the AFL became the largest labor union organization in the United States. The AFL initially allowed only skilled workers to join the organization. Unskilled laborers initially did not have representation under the AFL. The group also originally prohibited women, African Americans, and other racial minorities from joining the organization. Gompers supported the use of strikes, but he preferred peaceful negotiations to attain fair contracts for workers from their employers. He also sought to keep the AFL out of the political arena, believing that political activity might offend some business owners and hinder the workers' ability to attain better conditions.

By 1904, the American Federation of Labor had 1.7 million members. The organization's membership soared during World War I, as the federal government granted numerous concessions to workers and unions. As the United States was engaged in a world war, the government hoped to avoid strikes by intervening on the behalf of workers with their employers. In 1920, AFL membership had soared beyond four million workers. Unfortunately for the AFL, the 1920s and 1930s resulted in new difficulties for the organization and its leadership. Some members began to call for a more inclusive organization -- one that would fight for the rights of unskilled workers as well, rather than just workers skilled in a particular craft. Tensions over this issue became so prevalent that, in 1935, John L. Lewis, an AFL member, formed the Committee for Industrial Organization. Originally, this organization was a part of the AFL, but in 1937, the parent organization expelled all members of the Committee for Industrial Organization. The Committee for Industrial Organization eventually became the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). The AFL and the CIO remained as two separate organizations until 1955, when the two groups reunited together as the AFL-CIO.

For the remainder of the twentieth century, the AFL-CIO remained the largest union organization in the United States. The percentage of unionized workers, however, declined beginning in the 1950s. In 1953, 32.5% of American workers were union members. By 1983, only twenty percent of American workers belonged to a union.

See Also

References

1. Montgomery, David. The Fall of the House of Labor: The Workplace, the State, and American Labor Activism, 1865-1925.  New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 1989.

From Ohio History Central

The Knights of Labor was a labor organization established in 1869. It served as an umbrella organization for other unions that joined it.

The Knights of Labor's founder was Uriah Stevens. At first, the Knights of Labor was a secret organization, but Terence Powderly ended the group's secrecy upon assuming control of the organization in 1879. Membership grew quickly, reaching approximately 700,000 members by 1886.

The Knights of Labor was a rather inclusive group. It sought to unite together all "producers." Producers included anyone that constructed a physical product in the course of their workday. The Knights of Labor welcomed factory workers and business owners into its ranks. The group rejected "nonproducers"—people who did not engage in physical labor, such as bankers, lawyers, and academics. The Knights of Labor sought to create a united front of producers versus the nonproducers. The organization even allowed women and African Americans to join its ranks. Together, the producers sought an eight-hour workday, an end to child labor, better wages, and improved working conditions in general. Under Powderly's leadership, the organization also sought to instill morality in its members, including providing support for the temperance movement.

The Knights of Labor sought to attain their goals primarily through boycotts and peaceful negotiations. Powderly generally opposed strikes, believing that they only led to bloodshed and increased tensions. Other Knights of Labor leaders preferred utilizing strikes. After the Haymarket Square Riot in Chicago, Illinois, in 1886, the Knights of Labor declined as an effective organization. Powderly resigned as the organization's head in 1893, unable to bring the organization's membership together on how best to fight for improved conditions.

Within Ohio, the Knights of Labor gained an impressive following. In 1880, the organization only had eight hundred members within the state. By 1887, seventeen thousand Ohio workers belonged to the group. Several successful strikes during the mid 1880s led to the Knights of Labor's growth. As the strikes proved successful, more workers flocked to the union movement. Interestingly, due to the Knights of Labor's opposition to strikes, the organization experienced declining membership by the late 1880s and the early 1890s. Many of the Knights of Labor's disgruntled members joined the American Federation of Labor, a new labor group organized in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886.

See Also

Who were the Knights of Labor and the American Federation of Labor?

What kind of group is the American Federation of Labor?

Who were the Knights of Labor and what did they do?

What groups made up the Knights of Labor?