These early experiences, precedents, and
enthusiasms Gompers carried with him into the Federation of
Labor. He was one of the original group of trade union
representatives who organized the Federation in 1881. In the
following year he was its President. Since 1885 he has, with the
exception of a single year, been annually chosen as President.
During the first years the Federation was very weak, and it was
even doubtful if the organization could survive the bitter
hostility of the powerful Knights of Labor. It could pay its
President no salary and could barely meet his expense account.*
Gompers played a large part in the complete reorganization of the
Federation in 1886. He subsequently received a yearly salary of
$1000 so that he could devote all of his time to the cause. From
this year forward the growth of the Federation was steady and
healthy. In the last decade it has been phenomenal. The earlier
policy of caution has, however, not been discarded--for caution
is the word that most aptly describes the methods of Gompers.
From the first, he tested every step carefully, like a wary
mountaineer, before he urged his organization to follow. From the
beginning Gompers has followed three general lines of policy.
First, he has built the imposing structure of his Federation upon
the autonomy of the constituent unions. This is the secret of the
united enthusiasm of the Federation. It is the Anglo-Saxon
instinct for home rule applied to trade union politics.
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