Out of This Furnace

Out of This Furnace

by

Thomas Bell

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Out of This Furnace makes teaching easy.

AFL Term Analysis

The acronym for the American Federation of Labor, a national federation of labor unions established in 1886 as an umbrella organization for multiple different unions. The origins of the AFL go back to the famed labor leader Samuel Gompers, who in 1881 established the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions of the United States of America and Canada, a precursor to the AFL. Gompers served as the AFL’s first president and held that post (with the exception of a single year) until 1924. Until the 1930s, the AFL only represented skilled workers. In 1935, AFL member and noted labor leader John L. Lewis formed the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), which existed alongside the AFL until the two organizations merged as the AFL-CIO in 1955.

AFL Quotes in Out of This Furnace

The Out of This Furnace quotes below are all either spoken by AFL or refer to AFL. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Immigration and American Identity Theme Icon
).
Part 3, Chapter 5 Quotes

He was a child of the steel towns long before he realized it himself.

Related Characters: Mary Kracha (speaker), John “Johnny” Dobrejcak / Dobie (speaker), Frank Koval
Related Symbols: Steel Mills, Unions
Page Number: 240
Explanation and Analysis:
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AFL Term Timeline in Out of This Furnace

The timeline below shows where the term AFL appears in Out of This Furnace. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part 3, Mary: Chapter 5
Capital vs. Labor Theme Icon
...of a strike at the steel mill. The previous year the American Federation of Labor (A.F.L.) had resolved to target the steel industry and sent organizers into Braddock. In response, the... (full context)
Capital vs. Labor Theme Icon
...the union; rather, it is the company “plus the Government, plus the newspapers, plus the A.F.L. itself.” Frank also tells Johnny about Blackjack, an infamously violent state trooper who delighted in... (full context)
Part 4, Dobie: Chapter 5
The American Dream vs. Reality Theme Icon
Capital vs. Labor Theme Icon
Dobie and other workers refuse to vote for the ERP reps. The AFL, jolted into action by the creation of the ERPs, sends its organizers into the steel... (full context)
Capital vs. Labor Theme Icon
...does and says he thinks that Walsh, a middle-aged and generally incompetent organizer from the AFL’s Pittsburgh office, will do much of the work at first. Walsh wields near-total control over... (full context)
Part 4, Dobie: Chapter 8
Capital vs. Labor Theme Icon
...calls a special convention to ward off the strike. He enlists the help of the AFL president, who tells the workers that it is not the time to strike. The inexperienced... (full context)
The American Dream vs. Reality Theme Icon
Capital vs. Labor Theme Icon
...be no strike, but he is puzzled that the AA has voted to accept the AFL’s proposal for a special “Labor Board,” supposedly endorsed by President Roosevelt. Back at the union... (full context)
Part 4, Dobie: Chapter 11
Capital vs. Labor Theme Icon
...of the men in the mills, stripped defenseless by the union's defection.” Inspired by the AFL promise for aid, some 400 rank-and-file delegates meet in February to discuss a new union... (full context)
The American Dream vs. Reality Theme Icon
Capital vs. Labor Theme Icon
...organizer John L. Lewis, who considers the need to form a new federation. With the AFL’s abandonment and the Supreme Court’s decision that the NRA was unconstitutional, Dobie and Gralji realize... (full context)
Part 4, Dobie: Chapter 12
The American Dream vs. Reality Theme Icon
Capital vs. Labor Theme Icon
Around this time, renowned labor leader John Lewis appeals for industrial unionism at the AFL convention in Atlantic City. He gets into a physical spat with the president of the... (full context)