Being against toppling capitalism, the AFL was considered more conservative than the radical unions preceding it. It campaigned for basic improvements for workers such as eight-hour days, higher wages, and better working conditions. The AFL was therefore more successful than the Knights of Labor, a more radical U.S. union. The ARU believed in collective bargaining, or peaceful bargaining with employers, but unlike the Knights of Labor, employed strikes as a major tactic. The AFL can be considered a peaceful union, mainly because they wanted to avoid another Haymarket Square Riot, which proved to be the downfall of the Knights of Labor.
Until the 1950s, the AFL allowed only skilled workers to enter. The AFL prohibited all nonwhite workers from entering. This philosophy of craft unionism, or the division of unions by specialty, contradicted earlier unions' support of industrial unionism, which advocated grouping all workers in a company under one union to increase bargaining power. The debate within the AFL between industrial and craft unionism resulted in the split of five member unions to found the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) in 1938. In 1955 the AFL and the CIO rejoined, forming the AFL-CIO.
Presidents of the American Federation of Labor, 1886-1955
In 1921 John L. Lewis, leader of the United Mine Workers of America, failed in his attempt to challenge Samuel Gompers for the presidency of the AmericanFederation of Labor.
William Green remained president of the AFL until 1952 when he was replaced by George Meany.
In 1955 the CIO merged with the AmericanFederation of Labour.
The first Labour Member of Parliament (MP) was Arthur Puttee who founded the Winnipeg Labour Party, and was elected to the House of Commons from Winnipeg, Manitoba in a 1900 by-election and kept his seat at the 1900 federal election held later the same year.
Alphonse Verville was elected as a Labour candidate in the 1904 federal election in Maisonneuve, Quebec.
He was elected as a FederatedLabour Party candidate in the British Columbia general election, 1920, re-elected as part of the Canadian Labour Party slate in 1924 continued to run and win as an Independent Labour or Labour candidate rather than join the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation until his last victory in 1956.
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