USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Gompers is noted for having shifted the primary goal of American unionism away from social issues and toward the “bread and butter” issues of wages, benefits, hours, and working conditions, all of which could be negotiated through collective bargaining.

Detailed explanation-2: -A cigar maker by trade, an intellectual by nature, and a skilled organizer and administrator by vocation, Gompers dedicated his life to the working class. He was an advocate of shorter hours, higher wages, safe and sanitary working conditions, and collective bargaining with employers.

Detailed explanation-3: -However, Gompers believed that men should rely on their own voluntary organizations-the trade unions-and not the government. The AFL. thus opposed the efforts of the progressives to legislate for men on issues such as maximum hours, minimum wages, unemployment, and health insurance.

Detailed explanation-4: -Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Samuel Gompers (1850-1924) is the founder of the American Federation of Labor (AFL). Gifted at orating and assembling strikes, Gompers used them as effective weapons to change the degrading conditions of the working men of America.