biography
pronunciation:
[gomperz]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1850–1924)
|
| biography:
| Labour leader, born in London, UK. Born to Dutch-Jewish immigrant parents in London, Gompers left school at age 10 to begin work as a cigar maker. He emigrated to New York (1863) where he joined Local 15 of the Cigarmakers' International Union (CMIU) in 1864. Elected CMIU vice-president (1886), he was a founder of the American Federation of Labor (AFL), and served as its president (1886–95, 1896–1924). A Marxist in his early days, he turned against the Socialists in the AFL, championing a ‘pure and simple’ trade unionism that was hostile to independent labour political action, industrial unionism, and government intervention in the sphere of labour relations. As unions in general and the AFL in particular gained in power and status, he himself became the major figure in the American labour movement and a highly respected figure in American public life. He served as a member of the Advisory Commission to the Council of National Defense (1917–18), and as a member of the American delegation to the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. His important autobiography, Seventy Years of Life and Labor, was published in 1925. |
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