Samuel Gompers

Melting pot

Natives thought this of the U.S which means a mixture of cultures and races in a country

Nativism

Overt favoritism towards native born Americans

Marry Harris Jones

Organizer of the women's labor union, supported great strike of 1877, influenced child labor laws

AFL goals

-narrower but more realistic goals than KOL's -wanted to increase workers' wages -reduce hours -improve working conditions

Closed vs. Open Shop

-closed: employers only hire union members (what Gompers wanted) and any employee should pay union dues -open: could employ non-union members (what employers wanted)

"Company Unions"

-established by employers in mines and factories -to hand grievances and provide certain welfare benefits

Samuel Gompers

-first president of American Federation of Labor (AFL), the first enduring national labor union -immigrated from london where he was a cigar maker -become leader of cigar-makers union and made it one of the country's strongest unions

AFL

-largest membership in the building trades where the craft principle was most dominant -union of skilled workers and craft unions -eventually replaced KOL as nation's largest labor organization after the Haymarket Square Riot

Gompers Beliefs

-organizing skilled craft workers would be most beneficial to labor -should not attempt to organize all workers in an industry -refused to form alliance with Knights of Labor -rejected socialism -wanted a unionism that emphasized agreements with employees

Successful efforts at unionization

-organizing workers in immigrant sweatshops -new immigrants could be effectively organized (for ex in Amalgamated Clothing Workers)

Eugene V. Debs

Formed the American railroad union which included skilled and unskilled workers

Why did rival (other) unions organize?

Gompers opposed violence and was leery of socialism; his perceived moderation led to the creation of several rival unions, including the famous International Workers of the World (Eugene V. Debs was an original founder of this group)

Why did Samuel Gompers form AFL (American Federation of Labor)?

Higher wages, job security, and workplace safety.

Ellis Island

Immigration station in New York harbor, and 17 million used to pass through it 2% were denied

Angel island

Immigration station in San Francisco Bay Chinese would arrive here it was a harsh duty place

Gentlemen's Agreement

In the agreement Japan agreed to limit emigration of unskilled workers to the US in exchange for the repeal of the San Francisco segregation order

Collective bargaining

In this union officials representing the workers negotiated with management. If it failed workers would strike or boycott to support union demands

Why was it risky for Gompers to form a large union?

There were few legal protections and faced considerable hostility and often violence, from owners.

Industrial Workers of the World

They were socialist included miner, dock workers, welcomed blacks, group of radical unionist, the wobblies

American Federation of Labor

This labor union was able to reach written agreements on wages, hours, and working conditions and they used strikes as a major tactic