Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Western Federation of Miners (WFM), a radical labor union that organized the miners and smelter workers of the Rocky Mountain states. Created in 1893 by the merger of several local miners' unions, the...

(Encyclopedia) Knights of Labor, American labor organization, started by Philadelphia tailors in 1869, led by Uriah S. Stephens. It became a body of national scope and importance in 1878 and grew more rapidly after ...

(Encyclopedia) American Federation of Teachers (AFT), an affiliate of the AFL-CIO. It was formed (1916) out of the belief that the organizing of teachers should follow the model of a labor union, rather than that of...

(Encyclopedia) Dubinsky, David do͞obĭnˈskē [key], 1892–1982, American labor leader, president (1932–66) of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGWU), b. Brest-Litovsk, Poland. He was a baker in ...

(Encyclopedia) Gompers, Samuel gŏmˈpərz [key], 1850–1924, American labor leader, b. London. He emigrated to the United States with his parents in 1863. He worked as a cigar maker and in 1864 joined the local un...

(Encyclopedia) Meany, George, 1894–1980, American labor leader, president of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO; 1955–79), b. New York City. A plumber, he was elec...

(Encyclopedia) Hillman, Sidney, 1887–1946, American labor leader, b. Lithuania. He emigrated to the United States in 1907. Beginning as a garment worker, he became a union leader after his key participation in a s...

(Encyclopedia) Reuther, Walter Philip ro͞oˈthər [key], 1907–70, American labor leader, b. Wheeling, W.Va. A tool- and diemaker, he became shop foreman in a Detroit automobile plant, meanwhile completing his hig...

(Encyclopedia) Donahue, Thomas R. (Thomas Reilly Donahue) dŏnˈəhyo͞oˌ [key], 1928–2023, American ...

(Encyclopedia) Goldberg, Arthur, 1908–90, American labor lawyer and jurist, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1962–65), b. Chicago. He received his law degree from Northwestern Univ. in 1929. A corpor...