This paper compares three major American labor organizations — the Knights of Labor, the American Federation of Labor (AFL), and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) — across four evaluative criteria: organizational structure and financial stability, ability to operate within established political and economic systems, the influence of social environment and legislation, and the capacity of leaders to satisfy members' goals. The paper finds that the AFL's pragmatic, federated, and politically cautious approach allowed it to entrench itself durably in American political and economic life, while the IWW's ideological ambitions and the Knights' structural weaknesses ultimately undermined both organizations.
The Knights of Labor was a standard labor union comprised of individual workers across the nation. It was inclusive in its membership, employing both skilled workers in craft industries and unskilled laborers such as coal miners (Rayback, 1966, p. 168). The organization had limited political objectives, such as the eight-hour workday and the prohibition of child and convict labor. Its broader objectives were social: to improve the image and social status of the working man.
The AFL was not a labor organization in the traditional sense, but a federation of affiliated labor unions (Dubofsky & Foster, 2004, p. 138). The AFL was exclusive, accepting skilled workers in craft industries and skilled workers in industry. Its goals were economic — it provided financial and political support for affiliated labor unions in contract negotiations with employers (Dubofsky & Foster, 2004, p. 139). The political objectives it did pursue usually concerned the nature of labor negotiations themselves.
The IWW was neither a traditional labor union nor a federation of labor unions, but rather a labor organization whose membership overlapped significantly with other labor organizations (Dubofsky & Foster, 2004, p. 195). The IWW was extremely inclusive, accepting most skilled and unskilled workers, most notably migrant farmworkers (Dubofsky & Foster, 2004, p. 197). The IWW's goals were political, seeking to empower the working class across the world. The economic concessions it obtained for its members were usually pursued in service of larger political objectives.
The Knights of Labor's organizational structure was heavily centralized yet loose, allowing local members a great deal of autonomy. However, local members had few means to draw on the collective power of the Knights, making membership nearly nominal in many instances. The organization was financially stable enough to survive the departure of a majority of its members, likely because it operated with relatively lean overhead.
The AFL was organized along a federated model, initially comprising 40 different international unions across many industries. The executive board of the organization was determined by annual conventions, with one delegate allocated for every 4,000 members of each affiliated union. The federation coordinated labor strikes among its affiliate unions and helped organize labor advisory boards in major cities, often composed of its members. Revenue was raised through a per-capita tax on member organizations, tying the AFL's financial health directly to that of its affiliates.
The IWW was organized as a supra-corporate body, accepting virtually all workers and permitting its members to hold concurrent membership in other labor organizations. The IWW employed rank-and-file organization rather than electing leaders to bargain with employers on behalf of workers. It was financed mainly through initiation fees and membership dues, which were substantial given the size of its membership, which reached 100,000 workers in 1923 (Foner, 1997, p. 152).
The top leadership of the Knights of Labor did not believe that strikes were an effective way to elevate the status of working people, and failed to develop the infrastructure necessary to organize and coordinate the hundreds of strikes, walkouts, and job actions that spontaneously erupted among the membership. The organization's opposition to Socialist political organizations in favor of Populist ones also hurt it, causing important members to leave.
The AFL fit into the economic system well because it favored the pursuit of workers' immediate demands rather than challenging the property rights of owners. AFL leadership believed that the expansion of the capitalist system was the best path to the betterment of labor — an orientation that allowed the AFL to present itself as the conservative alternative to working-class radicalism. Politically, the AFL generally limited itself to supporting key politicians on a case-by-case basis. However, it built a fruitful alliance with the Democratic Party in the early 1900s that endured for decades.
The IWW was highly effective in its political and economic environment because of its ethic of worker solidarity among hundreds of thousands of members. The IWW could mobilize massive numbers of supporters nationwide for what would otherwise be local issues. This allowed it to put pressure on employers as a class, which helped to effect broad political changes as well.
"Media and legal impacts on each organization"
"Leaders' ability to satisfy diverse member interests"
"Explains AFL's durability versus IWW's decline"
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