Samuel Gompers was born into a Jewish family on January 27th, 1850, in London. At age 10, Gompers stopped going to school and began helping his father make cigars. By 1863, the whole Gompers family had moved to New York City; in New York, Samuel continued to help his father make cigars until he found a job in one of the local shops. New York was a very different place in Gompers’ early years: "New York in those days had no skyscrapers. Horse tram cars ran across town. The buildings were generally small and unpretentious. Then, as now, the East Side was the home of the latest immigrants who settled in colonies making the Irish, the German, the English, and the Dutch, and the Ghetto districts.” A year after moving away from England, Gompers joined Local 15 of the United Cigar Makers. Through his work and involvement with his local labor union, Gompers socialized with many people dedicated to labor reform. Even after Gompers left the local union, he believed that it was these people who inspired him to create social reform by beginning with labor reform.
After the Local 15 re-organized, Gompers continued to be extremely involved in labor unions. He was elected president of the Local 144 of the Cigar Makers’ International Union in 1875 and held remained president until 1878; eventually, he was reelected was in office from 1880 to 1886. Also in the 1880s, Gompers helped found the Federation of Organized Trade and Labor Unions. Additionally, Gompers served as vice president for FOTLU from 1881 to 1886. Eventually, FOTLU was reestablished as the American Federation of Labor, AFL, in 1886. Gompers was the first president of AFL and remained in his position for the first 40 years of the AFL’s existence.
Gompers was a local and national labor because he believed that the reformation of the labor force was key to reforming the social, political, and economic statuses of the majority of the American people. Gompers tried to reach his goal of improved status for laborers by advocating craft or trades unions because he believed they were more effective than large unions that welcomed all wage earners. Craft or trades unions restricted membership to only groups of workers who did the same type of work. Gompers also favored economic reform over political reform for workers because the economic prosperity earned by laborers couldn’t be taken away like political advantages might be. Gompers also promoted “political nonpartisanship” because he believed unions were stronger when not affiliated with a specific political party. Instead of laborers supporting political parties, Gompers wanted to see political parties provide better working conditions in exchange for more votes.
In 1903 Gompers helped William English Walling, Mary Kenny O'Sullivan, Jane Addams, Mary McDowell, Alice Hamilton, Florence Kelley and Sophonisba Breckinridge to establish the Women's Trade Union League. The organization educated women about the importance of trade union membership. It also supported women's demands for better working conditions and helped to raise awareness about the exploitation of women workers.
Gompers died on December 13th, 1924, in San Antonio, Texas. After his death, his autobiography, Seventy Years of Life and Labor (1925) was published.
"Samuel Gompers : Biography." Spartacus Educational. Web. 04 Jan. 2012. <http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAgompers.htm>.
"Samuel Gompers (1850 - 1924)." Aflcio.org - America's Union Movement. Web. 04 Jan. 2012. <http://www.aflcio.org/aboutus/history/history/gompers.cfm>.
"Samuel Gompers Papers." History. Web. 04 Jan. 2012. <http://www.history.umd.edu/Gompers/bio.htm>.
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