American Federation of Labor

The American Federation of Labor (in the United States colloquially AF of L , AFL for short , today American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO)) was one of the first skilled workers' union confederations in the United States .

It was founded on December 8, 1886 by Samuel Gompers as a reorganization of his predecessor, the "Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions", in Columbus (Ohio) . Gompers was President of the AFL until his death in 1924.

The AFL was the largest trade union association in the United States in the first half of the 20th century, even after the more radical Congress of Industrial Organizations ( CIO ) left the association in 1938.

The AFL advocated a “pure and simple” trade union policy. This stood in contrast to the more radical "Industrial Workers of the World" ( IWW ). The AFL focused on the direct, current demands of workers and did not question the rights of the owners of the means of production under capitalism. She favored tactical support for individual politicians and not the formation of a party that represented the interests of the workers.

In 1955 it reunited with the CIO and exists today as the AFL-CIO. In July / August 2005, numerous unions (including the service union SEIU, the largest single union) resigned and formed under the new umbrella organization “ Change to Win ”.

President of the AFL 1886–1955

• 1886-1894: Samuel Gompers
• 1894-1895: John McBride
• 1895-1924: Samuel Gompers
• 1924-1952: William Green
• 1952–1955: George Meany , then also President of the AFL-CIO

Web links

• Separation for the golden wedding . American trade union confederation AFL-CIO split. From: Analyze + kritik No. 497 from August 19, 2005

literature

• Julie Greene, Pure and Simple Politics: The American Federation of Labor and Political Activism, 1881-1917. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2006, ISBN 978-0-5210-2880-6 .
• Thomas Greven (2006): Just a break or a departure? The split in the US unions. In: The Argument for Philosophy and Social Sciences 264, Volume 48, 1/2006, pp. 85–94 (special issue "Prospects for America")
• Malte Meyer (2002): New start on the defensive. US unions under pressure to act. Hamburg: VSA
• Ingar Solty (2006): The split in the American trade unions. Symptom of decline or new beginning of the American labor movement? In: Sozialismus , 33rd volume, 1/2006, pp. 28–35