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Born January 27, 1850

London, England

Died December 13, 1924

San Antonio, Texas

English-born American labor leader

"Conscious that we are right in our movement to secure better conditions for the workers; conscious that we are entitled to it, to a continual larger share of the ever-increasing production and the productivity of the laborer, we shall continue the struggle for better homes and better surroundings."

Samuel Gompers, longtime leader of the American Federation of Labor, an organization of trade unions, had an enormous influence on the direction of the organized labor movement in the United States. As much as any single individual, he steered organized labor away from European-style socialism (the philosophy that government should own, or at least control, business activities) to focus instead on unionism (forming associations of...