Samuel Gompers Papers, Vol 10

Volume 10 of the "Samuel Gompers Papers" focuses on the AFL's struggle to serve the nation and the labour movement during the critical period when American neutrality gave way to war. Beginning with Gompers' last minute effort to persuade German workers to avoid war with the United States, it follows the labour movement's internal debate over the meaning of American participation and the Executive Council's pragmatic - and in some cases reluctant - pledge of support, offered just weeks before war was declared. This volume also charts the evolution of a new relation between organized labour and the federal government: acknowledging organized labour's vital role in the war effort, government now supported labour-adjustment boards that upheld the eight-hour day, equal pay for equal work, and labour's right to organize and bargain collectively with employers. As organized labour's main spokesman in Washington, Gompers played a central role in the development of wartime labour policies, with an eye to increasing production, reducing industrial conflict, and advancing labour's wage and hour standards.