英语故事-SamuelGompers

1、英语故事Samuel Gompers美国工会运动的右翼首脑。1881 年参加组织“美国和加拿大有组织的行业和工会联合会”;1886 年该联合会改组为“美国劳工联合会”后，长期任主席。领导工人为增加工资、缩短工作时间和改善劳动条件而斗争。但他反对激进的工人运动，倡导劳资合作。Samuel GompersSamuel Gompers(January 27, 1850-December 13, 1924) was an American labor union leader and a key figure in Americanlabor history. Gompers founded the

2、American Federation of Labor (the AF of L), and served as that organization s president from 1886 to 1894 and from 1895 until his death in1924. He promoted harmony amongthe different craft unions that comprised the AF of L, trying to minimize jurisdictional battles. He promoted “ thorough ” organiza

3、tion and collectivebargaining to secure shorter hours and higher wages, the first essential steps, he believed, to emancipating labor. He also encouraged the AF of L to take political action to “ elect their friends ” and “ defeat their enemies. ” During World War I, Gompers and the AF of L worked w

4、ith the government to avoid strikes and boost morale, while raising wage rates and expanding membership.Cigar makers international union careerGompers was elected president of cigar makers international union local 144 in 1875.As was the case with other unions of the day, the cigar maker s union nea

5、rly collapsed in the financial crisis of 1877, in which unemployment skyrocketed and ready availability ofdesperate workers willing to labor for subsistence wages put pressure upon the gains in wages and shortening of hours achieved in union shops. Gompersand his friend Adolph Strasser used local 14

6、4 as a base to rebuild the cigar makers union, introducing a high dues structure and implementing programs to pay out-of-work benefits, sick benefits, and death benefits for union members in good standing.Gomperstold the workers they needed to organize because wage reductions were almost a daily occ

7、urrence. The capitalists were only interested in profits,“ and the timehas come when we must assert our rights as workingmen. Every one present has the sad experience, that we are powerless in an isolated condition, while the capitalists are united; therefore it is the duty of every cigar maker to j

8、oin the organization. . one of the main objects of the organization, he concluded, “ is the elevation of the lowest paid worker to the standard of the highest, and in time we maysecure for every person in the trade an existence worthy of human beings.He was elected second vice-president of the cigar makers international union in 1886, and first vice-president in 1896. Despite the commitment of time and energy entailed by his place as