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The A.F.L. (American Federation of Labor)
The A.F.L. was one of the first federations of labor unions in the United States. It served as an alliance of craft unions that had split of from the larger Knights of Labor. The A.F.L.'s first president was cigar maker Samuel Gompers. He led the organization from its inception until his death in 1924. It became the largest group of allied unions for most of the 20th century. -
Collective Bargaining and Contracts
Collective Bargaining and Contracts are popular methods of employer/employee negotiation that were created in the early Labor Movement. Collective Bargaining allows employees to discuss and try to improve working conditions with their employer. Contracts allow employers to legally bind employees to the obligations of their job for a certain amount of time. -
Mother Jones
Later in her life, Mother Jones became a labor activist and organizer following the death of her family and destruction of her workplace factory. She was a founding member of the the I.W.W. and worked with the Knights of Labor and United Mine Workers union to help miners gain rights from their employers. -
Closed/Open Shop Policy
Closed Shop refers to an employer that will only hire union members, also requiring that all of their current employees be union members as well. An open shop workplace means that workers do not need to be union members in order to be hired. -
International Workers of the World
The I.W.W. is an international union that contends that workers should be united as once class, and that the wage system should be abolished. They advocate for workplace democracy and other forms of self-management. One of its founding members was Eugene V. Debs, a socialist party political candidate and labor activist. He used his party's and his own socialist ideals when forming the I.W.W. -
Emma Goldman
Emma Goldman was a radical anarchist, writer, atheist, and political/social activist. She worked throughout her life to promote feminism as well as social, labor, and personal freedoms. Using protests and civil disobedience, she fought against the draft, spread awarness about contraceptives with Margaret Sanger, and was part of an assassination attempt on industrialist and financier Henry Frick. She was also once of the first activists for gay rights in the United States. -
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
On March 25, 1911 a fire spramg up in the Trangle Shirtwaist clothing factory. Because supervisors had locked the exits, many were forced to jump from windows to escape the blaze. In total, 146 workers were killed, most of them being young women. This industrial disaster led to many regulations on workplace safety and the forming of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union who began to fight for the rights of sweatshop workers. -
The Department of Labor
This Cabinet department is in charge of setting regulations on occupational safety, wage and work hour standards, unemployment insurance benefits, and re-employment services. -
The Ludlow Massacre
The massacre began when the Colorado National Guard and Colorado Fuel & Iron Company guards attacked the camp of striking 1,200 strking coal miners and their families. The attack and burning of the camp led to between 69 and 199 deaths and further fighting between the now armed miners and soldiers. The event drew attention to the growing labor movement, helping to institute the 8-hour work day and child labor laws. -
World War I
World War I was a worldwide military conflict lasting from 1914 to 1918 involving all of the world's greatest powers at the time. Advances in technology including automatic weapons, mustard gas, etc. led to unprecidented loss of life with millions of combatants dead on both sides. -
The Clayton Act
This federal law strengthed existing anti-trust laws and attempted to discourage corporations from using strategies that would reduce competition from other businesses. -
The Adamson Act
The Adamson Act was a federal law passed in 1916 that instated the 8-hour workday and required employers to pay for overtime if employees worked over those 8 hours. -
The Great Depression
The Great Depression was a massive economic depression orginating within the United States. After an initial stock market crash, international trade fell 50% and the unemployment rate rose to about 25%. When banks failed, many lost their money, homes, and lifestyle to this economic disaster. -
The Davis-Bacon Act
This federal law requires that local prevailing wages must be paid on all public works projects by the contractors and/or subcontractors for said projects. -
The Norris-LaGuardia Act
This federal law banned yellow-dog contracts (where an employee agrees to not join a union in order to be hired), banned federal courts from issuing injunctions against non-violent labor disputes, and barred employers from interfering with workers joining trade unions. -
The Wagner Act
This federal law protects the rights of workers to discuss workplace issues, engage in collective bargaining, and go on strike. -
Fair Labor Standards Act
This federal law established a maxiumum 44-hour seven day workweek, minimum wage, guaranteed overtime for most jobs, and prohibited child labor. -
The C.I.O. (Congress of Industrial Organizations)
This was a federation of industrial unions that organized workers throughout the U.S. and Canada. Orginally a part of the A.F.L., it split into a rival federation in 1938, eventually returning to the A.F.L. and creating the AFL-CIO in 1955.
