The Puerto Rican organized workers' movement and the American Federation of Labor, 1901 to 1934.
Item
-
Title
-
The Puerto Rican organized workers' movement and the American Federation of Labor, 1901 to 1934.
-
Identifier
-
AAI9986371
-
identifier
-
9986371
-
Creator
-
Sanabria, Carlos.
-
Contributor
-
Adviser: Hobart Spalding
-
Date
-
2000
-
Language
-
English
-
Publisher
-
City University of New York.
-
Subject
-
History, United States | Sociology, Industrial and Labor Relations | Political Science, General
-
Abstract
-
Most studies of the Federacion Libre de los Trabajadores de Puerto Rico (FLT) have emphasized its non-socialist character and stressed the strong impact Samuel Gompers and the American Federation of Labor (AFL) exerted in promoting the FLT's trade unionist and reformist politics. Other studies emphasize the early organized labor movement's socialist ideology and the FLT's independence of action vis-a-vis the AFL. This study argues that although the FLT did indeed grow out of a movement influenced by radical socialist and anarchist thinking, it exhibited, from its inception, a predominantly trade unionist and reformist orientation. This was to some extent the result of AFL influence, but primarily a consequence of the particular conditions operating in Puerto Rico.;The AFL supported the democratic rights of Puerto Rican workers to form labor unions and to strike for higher wages, a shorter work day, and better working conditions. It provided financial assistance in the form of paid labor organizers. Puerto Rican workers benefited somewhat from the AFL's strike and sick benefits program. In addition, the AFL furthered the organizational growth of the FLT through the personal efforts of AFL President Samuel Gompers, the commissioning and monitoring of volunteer labor organizers, and the chartering of Puerto Rican labor unions. However, the AFL only served to reinforce the trade unionist and reformist tendencies already present within the FLT from the time of its founding.;Numerous factors other than the ideological influence of the AFL furthered the FLT's trade unionist and reformist position. These included the early labor movement's failure to develop a satisfactory strategy for achieving a new social order and the vague vision of the kind of society it sought to create. Moreover, the repression and persecution the FLT suffered at the hands of local employers and government officials, the promise of U.S. democracy in contrast to Spain's autocratic rule, and the inherent difficulties of organizing unskilled agricultural laborers also contributed to the appeal of trade union and reform politics.
-
Type
-
dissertation
-
Source
-
PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
-
degree
-
Ph.D.
