Craft: An American History

by Glenn Adamson

American Federation of Labor (AFL) was formed to pursue a different strategy, which ultimately came to be known as “craft unionism.” It was not necessarily more conciliatory in its methods than the Knights had been—strikes nationwide nearly tripled in the 1890s, partly as a result of an economic depression that settled over the country in the middle of the decade.41 But instead of the centralized, big-tent approach of the Knights of Labor, the AFL was structured as a coalition of trade-specific unions, which restricted their membership based on standards of skill. This approach proved effective for those it protected, but left other workers exposed. In 1889, for example, an AFL affiliate called the Journeymen Tailors’ Union of America staged a successful strike to protest reduced wages and domestic outsourcing. The union position was that a tailor should “sit among men and make work,” and that the home should not be used as a workshop. The victory maintained income for male workers, but it effectively sidelined female pieceworkers. The AFL presided over a similar marginalization of African American and Chinese American interests. In the railroad industry, labor was organized narrowly according to specialization, with thirteen separate unions (electricians, blacksmiths, oilers, boilermakers, carpet layers, and so forth) by 1901. These skilled workers had terrific leverage because they could shut down so much economic activity with a strike. Yet they did nothing to help manu...