Join A.F. of L.

An illustration of two hands shaking in blue is between two pieces of blue text in front of a white background. A blue union bug appears below the text on the bottom of the button.

The A.F. of L. stands for American Federation of Labor. The American Federation of Labor was formed in December of 1886 by Samuel Gompers. It was a group of smaller craft unions consisting of skilled workers organizing local unions and negotiating wages, hours, and working conditions. Under Gompers’s leadership, the American Federation of Labor grew to become the largest labor union organization in the United States. But during the 1920s, the organization faced challenges in leadership, particularly that only skilled workers are allowed for membership. Tensions became prevalent until the Great Depression as unskilled workers joined to help serve better lives for thousands of working Americans. Today, the organization is known as AFL-CIO since 1955 and remains the United States’ largest union organization.