American Federation of Labor International Ladies Garment Workers Union (AF of L) 1886-present (ILGWU) 1900-1930s Organized low-skilled female workers in the Founded by Samuel Gompers textile industry, including many immigrant Composed mostly of skilled workers who workers were not as easily replaced by scabs After the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Organized craft unions and pushed for Fire of 1911, the ILGWU lobbied successfully closed shops for government inspections of factories as Endorsed strikes and supported strikers with a national strike fund paid by union dues well as laws requiring fire escapes and shorter work hours Lobbied for passage of Chinese Exclusion Act and sometimes allowed segregated local unions Florence Kelley, though not a member of Merged with the Congress of Industrial the ILGWU, campaigned for special Organizations in 1955 to become the protections for female workers (Muller v. Oregon), and worked with Jane Addams’ settlement house movement. Radical Labor Socialists Communists Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) Nicknamed Edward Bellamy’s “Wobblies” Looking Backward Karl Marx & Friedrich Organized as an industrial (1888) imagined a future socialist utopia in the United Engels’ The Communist union (“One Big Union”) States where all industry had rather than as a craft union Manifesto (1848) and been nationalized. Das Kapital (1867) Supported revolutionary influenced the labor Jack London’s novel The movement, even though most action” including “direct Iron Heel (1908) imagined workers did not identify as strikes and sabotage a future dystopia in which communists industrial monopolists had Opposed nativism, racism, established an oligarchy in the The American Communist and sexism, and organized United States. Party (CPUSA) was founded skilled as well as unskilled in 1919 and grew in workers Socialist Party candidates influence during the Great won some state and local Depression Internal conflicts, arrests of offices leaders, and competition from AF of L led to the IWW’s decline in the 1920s Socialist Party candidate Eugene V. Debs campaigned for president five
American Federation of Labor (AF of L) 1886-present International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGWU) 1900-1930s Founded by Samuel Gompers Composed mostly of skilled workers who were not as easily replaced by scabs Organized craft unions and pushed for closed shops Endorsed strikes and supported strikers with a national strike fund paid by union dues Lobbied for passage of Chinese Exclusion Act and sometimes allowed segregated local unions Merged with the Congress of Industrial Organizations in 1955 to become the Organized low-skilled female workers in the textile industry, including many immigrant workers After the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of 1911, the ILGWU lobbied successfully for government inspections of factories as well as laws requiring fire escapes and shorter work hours Florence Kelley, though not a member of the ILGWU, campaigned for special protections for female workers (Muller v. Oregon), and worked with Jane Addams’ settlement house movement. Radical Labor Socialists Communists Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) Edward Bellamy’s Looking Backward (1888) imagined a future socialist utopia in the United States where all industry had been nationalized. Jack London’s novel The Iron Heel (1908) imagined a future dystopia in which industrial monopolists had established an oligarchy in the United States. Socialist Party candidates won some state and local offices Socialist Party candidate Eugene V. Debs campaigned for president five Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels’ The Communist Manifesto (1848) and Das Kapital (1867) influenced the labor movement, even though most workers did not identify as communists The American Communist Party (CPUSA) was founded in 1919 and grew in influence during the Great Depression Nicknamed “Wobblies” Organized as an industrial union (“One Big Union”) rather than as a craft union Supported revolutionary “direct action” including strikes and sabotage Opposed nativism, racism, and sexism, and organized skilled as well as unskilled workers Internal conflicts, arrests of leaders, and competition from AF of L led to the IWW’s decline in the 1920s