American Federation of Labor

American Federation of Labor
Published by the American Federation of Labor, Washington, DC, 1919 · Public domain · source
Name	American Federation of Labor
Native name	AFL
Founded	1886
Dissolved	1955 (merged)
Location country	United States
Headquarters	Washington, D.C.
Key people	Samuel Gompers; A. Philip Randolph (ally); William Green
Affiliation	AFL–CIO (successor)
Members	peak ~4.5 million (early 1950s)

American Federation of Labor

The American Federation of Labor was a national federation of trade union organizations founded in 1886 that represented primarily skilled craft workers in the United States. Within the context of the US Civil Rights Movement and later twentieth-century struggles for racial equality, the AFL's policies and relationships with Black, Latino, Asian American and women workers shaped labor's role in racial justice and anti-discrimination law.

Origins and Structure of the AFL

The AFL grew out of earlier labor organizations including the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions and was led for decades by Samuel Gompers, who emphasized "pure and simple trade unionism" focused on wages, hours and working conditions. The AFL was organized as a federation of autonomous craft unions such as the Machinists, the Carpenters, the Longshoremen, and the Amalgamated Association. Its federal structure meant individual member unions set membership criteria, jurisdictional rules and bargaining strategies, which produced uneven policies toward minority workers across the federation. The AFL's governance relied on conventions, an executive council, and prominent presidents including Gompers and later William Green.

Racial Policies and Membership Practices

From its founding, many AFL affiliates practiced exclusionary membership policies that barred or segregated African Americans, women and immigrant workers. Craft-based unions often used racial criteria to protect wages and job control, formalized in local charters and hiring halls. This produced a labor market segmented by race and trade, contributing to de facto discrimination in industries such as steel and railroad shop work. Some AFL unions, including the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union or elements of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, were more open, but discriminatory practices persisted in key affiliates like the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and certain building trades locals. Legal and political contexts including Jim Crow laws and local hiring ordinances also constrained union behavior.

Interactions with Civil Rights Organizations

The AFL's relationship with civil rights groups was complex and evolved over time. Early twentieth-century Black labor activists such as William Monroe Trotter and later leaders like A. Philip Randolph criticized AFL exclusion and formed alternative organizations, including the Negro-American Labor Council and the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (chartered under the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and Maids). During the 1930s and 1940s the AFL competed and sometimes cooperated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), which organized industrial unions and contested race-based exclusions. Civil rights organizations—NAACP, National Urban League, and later the SCLC and CORE—pressured unions and federal agencies, linking labor rights to anti-lynching campaigns, voter registration, and anti-discrimination work. The AFL's stance on federal anti-discrimination measures such as executive orders on fair employment under Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman varied by affiliate and leadership.

Key Campaigns and Labor Actions Affecting Minority Workers

AFL affiliates participated in strikes and campaigns that affected minority workers both positively and negatively. Notable episodes include AFL-affiliated craft disputes that excluded Black workers from skilled positions, while other campaigns—such as those led by pro-inclusion locals or the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters under A. Philip Randolph—secured gains in wages and union recognition for Black workers. During World War II, pressure from Randolph and the March on Washington Movement led to Executive Order 8802 and the creation of the FEPC, impacting hiring in defense industries where both AFL and CIO unions were active. Postwar strikes in shipping, trucking and the public sector revealed persistent racial tensions over seniority, job classification and subcontracting that civil rights groups exploited to press for reforms.

Internal Reforms and Shifts toward Inclusion

From the 1930s through the 1950s some AFL affiliates began modest reforms under pressure from organizers, African American veterans, and federal civil rights initiatives. The rise of industrial unionism in the CIO provoked internal debates; some AFL leaders attempted to broaden membership policies to remain competitive, while others resisted. The 1955 merger of the AFL with the CIO into the AFL–CIO produced institutional shifts: the merged federation adopted more explicit anti-discrimination stances and coordinated programs such as the AFL–CIO Civil Rights Department that later supported federal civil rights legislation enforcement and affirmative action in union hiring. Leaders like Walter Reuther (in the CIO) and reformers within former AFL unions advocated for integration, apprenticeship reform, and federal partnerships to reduce racially based exclusion.

Legacy and Influence on Civil Rights Legislation

The AFL's mixed record influenced the shape of civil rights policy in the United States. Exclusionary practices helped spur parallel Black labor institutions and political mobilization that fed into the broader civil rights movement. Conversely, AFL affiliates that reformed and the post-merger AFL–CIO played roles in lobbying for the Fair Employment Practices Committee, Executive Order 9981, and later provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and EEOC enforcement. The AFL's history is therefore a study in how labor institutional structures and racial politics intersected: its legacy includes both the perpetuation of workplace segregation in the early twentieth century and contributions to later legal and organizational frameworks that advanced employment civil rights. Labor history of the United States Civil rights movement Race and employment Labor movement