France 1919

Synopsis

Throughout World War I, the leaders of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) recommended that the international recognition of certain specified labor rights be included in the war aims of the Allied and Associated Powers and as a special clause in the eventual peace treaty. This AFL advocacy contributed to the appointment of a special Commission on International Labor Legislation at the Paris peace conference, of which Samuel Gompers, the AFL president, was elected chairman. Between February and April 1919, this commission drafted a charter of legally enforceable labor rights' principles that incorporated most of the AFL's wartime recommendations. This charter became part of the constitution for the new International Labor Organization (ILO) that the peace conference created as a special agency of the League of Nations under the Treaty of Versailles.

Samuel Gompers (with hands in pockets) walks with other union officials...