ASKED WHAT labour wanted, Samuel Gompers, founding president of the American Federation of Labour in the late 1800s, is often quoted as responding: “more”. His actual answer was surprisingly lyrical. “More schoolhouses and less jails…more learning and less vice…more leisure and less greed…more of the opportunities to cultivate our better natures.” His ability to tie loftiness to pragmatic demands for better wages and working conditions helped make the labour movement a powerful and popular force.
Listen to this story
Your browser does not support the <audio> element.
After years in decline, big labour is regaining both power and popularity. Joe Biden, whose political career began in the union-friendly
→ Continue reading at The Economist
