who did the american federation of labor represent
American Federation of Labor The American Federation of Labor (AFL) organized as an association of trade unions in 1886. The organization emerged from a dispute with the Knights of Labor (K of L) organization, in which the leadership of that organization solicited locals of various craft unions to withdraw from their International organizations and to affiliate with the K of L directly, an action which would have taken funds from the various unions and enriched the K of L's coffers.[1] The Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions also merged into what would become the American Federation of Labor.
Colored National Labor Union Following underrepresentaton within the predominately white National Labor Union, the National Colored Labor Convention met in 1869. This convention resulted in the formation of the Colored National Labor Union in the same year.[2] The "Colored" National Labor Union was a post-civil war organization founded in December 1869 by an assembly of 214 African American mechanics, engineers, artisans, tradesmen and trades-women, and their supporters in Washington D.C. This organization was created in pursuit of equal representation for African Americans in the workforce. The labor union was organized by Isaac Myers, and elected its first president; civil rights activist Frederick Douglass was selected the president of the CNLU in 1872. Douglass' newspaper, The New Era was chosen as the official organ of this National Labor Union.[3]