Unions

Michael Paul 099 66 3949 History 316z Trade unionism, industrial unionism, and socialism were the main forms of organized labor in the late nineteenth century early twentieth century, yet rarely did these shifting currents flow in complementary ways that might appeal to the vast majority of struggling workers. The three most important formal organizations were the American Federation of Labor (AFL), the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and the Socialist Party of America. All three of these organizations had there own strengths but the many weaknesses and divisions combined with outside influences caused the retardation of their radical, left wing ideas. The American Federation of Labor was founded with the intention of building the class conscioussness and economic power of workers by organizing them on occupational lines. It pursued policies to win short term, concrete, economic gains (Cashman,206.) The AFL was first established as the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions of the United States and Canada from several independent national trade unions in 1881 and it took its definitive form and new name in 1886.The AFL was decentralized and organized as a loose coalition of almost autonomous national unions (Cashman,205.) The advantage to this was that decisions were made in each union where the leaders understood the situation. However, the AFL retreated from its Marxian origins to become a profoundly conservative organization restricted to the ranks of skilled, white males. This restrictive policy was a major flaw of the AFL and kept them from gaining the numbers and strength that it may have attained. These policies came directly from the ideas of the AFL’s longtime leader Samuel Gompers. Gompers believed that labor should accept the existing capitalist economy but try and get a larger share for labor by way of higher wages, shorter hours and better conditions of work. He believed that the idealistic goal of a fundamental economic reform was an illusion (Cashman,221.) His conservative approach included negotiation and conciliation in labor disputes and in resort to strikes only after other methods had failed. He opposed alliances with political parties and the formation of a labor political party. His prime concern was the status of the skilled worker, which under his leadership attained greater stability than ever before. In concentratin...

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...s. By contrast the IWW led by Bill Haywood was the most radical and controversial of all American labor movements. Haywood’s unconventional methods and uncompromising stands frequently put him at odds with allies and opponents alike. And the Socialist Party of America led by Eugene Debs had potential to improve the lives of workers everywhere but do to internal conflicts was unable to truly make a difference. Had these three organizations been able to play off one another they may have been able to realize their ultimate goals. The AFL containing the skilled workers was the most powerful, the IWW took what the AFL did not want giving the unskilled worker a voice and the Socialist Party went in to politics, using political offices to gain power for the working class. Ultimately because of the different outlooks of these three groups the American labor movement, though it gained some ground, was a loss.

Bibliography

Works cited Cashman, Sean. America in the age of titans. New York university press, NY ,1988 Laurie, Bruce. Artisans into Workers university of illinois press, illinois 1997 Leuchtenberg, William. The Perils of Prosperity. The university of chicago press, london, 1958