Description
The Chicago Federation of Labor was founded in 1896 as a way to strengthen the efforts of individual local unions by creating a unified voice for the labor movement in the Chicago area. Chicago is considered by many as the birthplace of the American labor movement, home to more Local 1 unions than any other city and the movement for the eight-hour day. First organized as the General Trades Assembly in 1864 and later the Trades Council and Trades and Labor Assembly, it was finally reorganized as the Chicago Federation of Labor and received its charter from the American Federation of Labor on November 9, 1896. From the Haymarket Affair in 1886 spurred by the fight for the eight-hour day, to the Pullman railroad strike in 1894 over corporate greed and poverty, to the Memorial Day Massacre during the ?Little Steel? strikes in 1937, Chicago's rich labor history stems back to the formative years of our nation's economy and the modern labor movement.