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Gompers was born in London, England into a working class Jewish family which had recently arrived from Holland. He left school at age ten to apprentice first as a shoemaker then as a cigar maker. The family immigrated to [[New York City]] in 1863, settling on the Lower East Side of the city. He married Sophia Julian in 1867<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=W5ZapJXvCtgC&pg=PA485 The Samuel Gompers Papers, Volume 1]</ref> and became a naturalized citizen in 1872. Gompers did not have a formal education, but said, "The factory was my Harvard and my Yale."

Gompers was born in London, England into a working class Jewish family which had recently arrived from Holland. He left school at age ten to apprentice first as a shoemaker then as a cigar maker. The family immigrated to [[New York City]] in 1863, settling on the Lower East Side of the city. He married Sophia Julian in 1867<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=W5ZapJXvCtgC&pg=PA485 The Samuel Gompers Papers, Volume 1]</ref> and became a naturalized citizen in 1872. Gompers did not have a formal education, but said, "The factory was my Harvard and my Yale."

In 1877 the union had collapsed and Gompers and his friend [[Adolph Strasser]] using local 144 as a base rebuilt the Cigar Makers' Union, introduced a hierarchical structure, and implemented programs for strike fund and pension fund, which were paid for by charging high membership dues. He told the workers they needed to organize because wage reductions were almost a daily occurrence. The capitalists were only interested in profits, "and the time has come when we must assert our rights as workingmen. Every one present has the sad experience, that we are powerless in an isolated condition, while the capitalists are united; therefore it is the duty of every Cigar Maker to join the organization. . . . One of the main objects of the organization," he concluded, "is the elevation of the lowest paid worker to the standard of the highest, and in time we may secure for every person in the trade an existence worthy of human beings." <ref> Mandel p. 22</ref>

In 1877 the union had collapsed and Gompers and his friend [[Adolph Strasser]] using local 144 as a base rebuilt the Cigar Makers' Union, introduced a hierarchical structure, and implemented programs for strike fund and pension fund, which were paid for by charging high membership dues. He told the workers they needed to organize because wage reductions were almost a daily occurrence. The capitalists were only interested in profits, "and the time has come when we must assert our rights as workingmen. Every one present has the sad experience, that we are powerless in an isolated condition, while the capitalists are united; therefore it is the duty of every Cigar Maker to join the organization. . . . One of the main objects of the organization," he concluded, "is the elevation of the lowest paid worker to the standard of the highest, and in time we may secure for every person in the trade an existence worthy of human beings." <ref>Mandel p. 22</ref>

His philosophy of labor unions centered on economic ends for workers, such as higher wages, benefits, and job security. His goal was to achieve these without political action or affiliation by the union, but rather through the use of strikes, boycotts, etc.

His philosophy of labor unions centered on economic ends for workers, such as higher wages, benefits, and job security. His goal was to achieve these without political action or affiliation by the union, but rather through the use of strikes, boycotts, etc.

Gompers viewed unions as the labor component of a business, neither superior nor inferior to the management component, but just as essential. Europeans unions were much more confrontational, but Gompers sought a business relationship that would be profitable to both sides. His belief led to the development of procedures for [[collective bargaining]] and contracts between labor and management which are still in use today. In practice, AFL unions were important in industrial cities, where they formed a central labor office to coordinate the actions of different AFL unions. Issues of wages and hours were common causes for short strikes. Many strikes were assertions of jurisdiction, so that the plumbers, for example, used strikes to ensure that all major construction projects in the city used union plumbers.  In this goal they were ideally supported by all the other construction unions in the AFL fold.  Safety issues were at issue in fewer than 5% of strikes; more common was a strike to keep a black man or a non-union man from holding a job the unions wanted to control.  The AFL itself never called strikes--the member unions did that--but Gompers coordinated inter-union cooperation to help strikers.

Gompers viewed unions as the labor component of a business, neither superior nor inferior to the management component, but just as essential. Europeans unions were much more confrontational, but Gompers sought a business relationship that would be profitable to both sides. His belief led to the development of procedures for [[collective bargaining]] and contracts between labor and management which are still in use today. In practice, AFL unions were important in industrial cities, where they formed a central labor office to coordinate the actions of different AFL unions. Issues of wages and hours were common causes for short strikes. Many strikes were assertions of jurisdiction, so that the plumbers, for example, used strikes to ensure that all major construction projects in the city used union plumbers.  In this goal they were ideally supported by all the other construction unions in the AFL fold.  Safety issues were at issue in fewer than 5% of strikes; more common was a strike to keep a black man or a non-union man from holding a job the unions wanted to control.  The AFL itself never called strikes—the member unions did that—but Gompers coordinated inter-union cooperation to help strikers.

===Leading the AFL===

===Leading the AFL===

==Immigration==

==Immigration==

Gompers, an immigrant himself, like most labor leaders, opposed unrestricted immigration from Europe because it lowered wages. He opposed any immigration at all from Asia for the previous reason and also because it brought an alien culture. He and the AFL strongly supported the [[Chinese Exclusion Act]] of 1882 that kept out the Chinese.<ref> Thousands of Chinese entered the U.S. illegally, but they all went to Chinatowns and did not compete with union labor. The restrictions were repealed in 1943.</ref>  The AFL was instrumental in passing immigration restriction laws from the 1890s to the 1920s, such as the 1921 Emergency Quota Act and the [[Immigration Act of 1924]], and seeing that they were strictly enforced. As Mink shows, the link between the AFL and the Democratic Party rested in large part on immigration issues; the owners of large corporations wanted more immigration and thus supported the [[Republican Party]].<ref> Gwendolyn Mink. ''Old labor and new immigrants in American political development: union, party, and state, 1875-1920.'' (1986).</ref>

Gompers, an immigrant himself, like most labor leaders, opposed unrestricted immigration from Europe because it lowered wages. He opposed any immigration at all from Asia for the previous reason and also because it brought an alien culture. He and the AFL strongly supported the [[Chinese Exclusion Act]] of 1882 that kept out the Chinese.<ref>Thousands of Chinese entered the U.S. illegally, but they all went to Chinatowns and did not compete with union labor. The restrictions were repealed in 1943.</ref>  The AFL was instrumental in passing immigration restriction laws from the 1890s to the 1920s, such as the 1921 Emergency Quota Act and the [[Immigration Act of 1924]], and seeing that they were strictly enforced. As Mink shows, the link between the AFL and the Democratic Party rested in large part on immigration issues; the owners of large corporations wanted more immigration and thus supported the [[Republican Party]].<ref>Gwendolyn Mink. ''Old labor and new immigrants in American political development: union, party, and state, 1875-1920.'' (1986).</ref>

===Political involvement===

===Political involvement===

==Scholarly secondary sources==

==Scholarly secondary sources==

* Greene, Julie . ''Pure and Simple Politics: The American Federation of Labor and Political Activism, 1881-1917'' (1998) [[http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=107379879  online edition]

* Greene, Julie . ''Pure and Simple Politics: The American Federation of Labor and Political Activism, 1881-1917'' (1998) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=107379879  online edition]

* Livesay, Harold C. ''Samuel Gompers and Organized Labor in America'' (1993)

* Livesay, Harold C. ''Samuel Gompers and Organized Labor in America'' (1993)

* McCartin, Joseph A. ''Labor's Great War: The Struggle for Industrial Democracy and the Origins of Modern American Labor Relations, 1912-1921,'' 1997 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=38479584 online edition]

* McCartin, Joseph A. ''Labor's Great War: The Struggle for Industrial Democracy and the Origins of Modern American Labor Relations, 1912-1921,'' 1997 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=38479584 online edition]

{{reflist|2}}

{{reflist|2}}

==External Links==

==External links==

* [http://www.dcmemorials.com/index_indiv0001702.htm Gompers Memorial in Washington, D.C.]

* [http://www.dcmemorials.com/index_indiv0001702.htm Gompers Memorial in Washington, D.C.]

* [http://history.umd.edu/research/samuel-gompers-papers The Samuel Gompers Papers], at the University of Maryland, College Park

* [http://history.umd.edu/research/samuel-gompers-papers The Samuel Gompers Papers], at the University of Maryland, College Park

[[category:United States History]]

[[Category:United States History]]

[[category:Labor Union Leaders]]

[[Category:Labor Union Leaders]]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gompers, Samuel}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gompers, Samuel}}

[[Category:Progressive Era]]

[[Category:Progressive Era]]

[[Category:Business]]

[[Category:Business]]

[[Category:Gilded Age]]

[[Category:Gilded Age]]

[[category:United States History]]

[[Category:United States History]]

[[Category:1924 deaths]]