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| Click the picture above to see a larger version. |
| The AFL was a craft union: it created separate unions for workers in different trades or crafts. What did this mean? | Skilled workers belonged to the AFL's skilled craft unions; unskilled workers belonged to the AFL's unskilled craft unions. Carpenters had their own carpenters' unions, plumbers had plumbers' unions, and so on. These different kinds of workers all belonged to the AFL, but they had little to do with each other. |
| What did this mean for AFL members? | If the carpenters' union went on strike, plumbers in the plumbers' union did not have to join in. AFL carpenters picketing a worksite could have AFL plumbers cross their picket line to go to work. Each group in the AFL looked out for itself. If the carpenters' strike resulted in a pay raise for them, the plumbers did not also get a raise because the carpenters didn't strike to improve everyone's situation--just their own. |
| Was this craft union set-up popular with all AFL members? | No. Some believed that when they were divided into their small craft unions, they were easier for employers to control. The carpenters' craft union might ask for a raise and be told that none of the other craft unions were asking for that much, so why should the carpenters get the raise? On the other hand, if the carpenters got a big raise, that didn't mean the plumbers did; each craft union had to painstakingly fight for and negotiate pay on its own. And crossing picket lines just hurt the cause of unionism itself. |
| What event made AFL members reject their own union leadership? | In 1934, three different AFL craft unions in Minneapolis, Minnesota; San Francisco, California; and Toledo, Ohio, launched three major strikes. AFL members were electrified by the strikes and horrified by the violence strikers suffered at the hands of the police--strikers were killed in all three cities. As the strikes went on, AFL members were furious that the AFL's central leadership did almost nothing to help its striking unions. |
| What did the dissatisfied AFL members do? | They decided to form a subgroup of unions within the AFL called the Committee for Industrial Organization, or CIO. The CIO was not a craft union; it was an industrial union. This meant all workers, regardless of their trade or skill level, are members of a single union. If CIO carpenters went on strike at a job site, CIO plumbers also went on strike. They did not cross the carpenters' picket line. If the CIO carpenters negotiated a pay raise, the CIO plumbers got one too. CIO leadership got involved in all conflicts and strikes and negotiated with employers for changes across the board for all union workers. |
| How did the AFL react? | The AFL did not accept this sub-organization within its own ranks. In 1936, it suspended the 10 AFL craft unions that had formed the CIO, and those 10 unions left the AFL permanently to make the CIO an independent, rival union, now called the Congress of Industrial Organizations. |
The AFL and the CIO battled each other for members, but with its "united we stand, divided we fall" attitude, the CIO attracted many workers from the AFL and many previously non-union workers.
Check your understanding of the AFL and CIO in the 1930s by completing this Drag and Drop activity. Drag the description to the right category, AFL or CIO.
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craft union
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AFL
CIO
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That is correct.
You should review this topic.
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had a "one for all and all for one" attitude
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AFL
CIO
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That is correct.
You should review this topic.
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industrial union
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AFL
CIO
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That is correct.
You should review this topic.
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seemed afraid to support strikes
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AFL
CIO
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That is correct.
You should review this topic.
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by 1930 was the largest labor union in the U.S.
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AFL
CIO
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That is correct.
You should review this topic.
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formed as an independent union in 1936
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AFL
CIO
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That is correct.
You should review this topic.
Complete
