The American Federation of Labor (AFL) was formed in 1886 by skilled workers dissatisfied with their previous union. Led by Samuel Gompers, the AFL became the largest US labor union, but initially excluded women and minorities. In the 1920s and 1930s, tension arose over including unskilled workers, leading to the formation of the Committee for Industrial Organization (CIO). The AFL and CIO merged in 1955 to form the AFL-CIO, which remains the largest US labor union despite declining membership.
The American Federation of Labor (AFL) is a US trade union. It originally consisted of skilled workers from several smaller craft unions who may have grown dissatisfied with their allegiance to another union, the Cavalieri del Lavoro. Among the first American union federations, the AFL was formed in 1886 in Columbus, Ohio, and led by Samuel Gompers. AFL members commonly wanted higher wages and better working conditions and found strength by banding together to further their causes.
The AFL’s predecessor, the Knights of Labor, was founded in 1869 by a group of tailors from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Knights of Labor fell out of favor with workers after the failure of the Missouri Pacific strike and the Haymarket Square riot in Chicago, Illinois, in 1886. Knights of Labor membership dropped to less than 100,000 by 1900, while the AFL membership soared to over 500,000 workers. The American Federation of Labor was extremely popular during World War I, when the US government sought to avoid strikes and was relatively generous to both workers and unions.
Under the leadership of Samuel Gompers, the American Federation of Labor became the largest labor union in the United States. In its early years, the AFL offered membership only to skilled workers and prohibited women, African Americans, and other ethnic minorities from joining its ranks. Under Gompers, the AFL supported strikes, or boycotts, which were deemed peaceful negotiating techniques and were extremely opposed to socialism. Gompers attempted to keep the AFL out of the political arena, even as the group aligned itself with the Democratic party in the early 1900s. Gompers was re-elected president of the American Federation of Labor every year but one until his death in 1924.
In the 1920s and 1930s, AFL members had begun advocating for the inclusion of unskilled workers in the union. The AFL began to experience great tension regarding this issue. In 1935, AFL member John L. Lewis formed the Committee for Industrial Organization, or CIO. The CIO was a part of the AFL until 1937, when the AFL voted to expel all members affiliated with the new group. Eventually, the CIO showed up for the Congress for Industrial Organizations.
The American Federation of Labor and the CIO remained separate until 1955, when they merged to form the AFL-CIO. The AFL-CIO remains the largest labor union in the United States, despite the fact that union membership has declined significantly since the 1950s. In the 1980s, only 20% of American workers belonged to a union.
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