alistic goal of a fundamental economic reform was an illusion (Cashman,221.) His conservative approach included negotiation and conciliation in labor disputes and in resort to strikes only after other methods had failed. He opposed alliances with political parties and the formation of a labor political party. His prime concern was the status of the skilled worker, which under his leadership attained greater stability than ever before. In concentrating almost exclusively on the needs of the craftsmen, trade unions were increasingly supporting practices that severely undermined the solidarity of the working class as a whole. The cost of which was not felt by the middle class but by the unskilled worker (Cashman,223.)
             The exclusion of the unskilled worker and the lack of a true effort to recruit women and blacks into the AFL as well as having a central body that was powerless to settle disputes between unions along with the elitest and often racist slant of some union policies were major flaws of the AFL . Samuel Gompers himself was anti immigration. Though women and blacks were urged to join the union they were met with harsh prejudices from the white members of the AFL. In 1902, blacks constituted only three percent of total union membership and mostly segregated into ineffectual locals. The AFL's record with women was almost as poor. High union dues, apprenticeship requirements and the autonomous structures of individual unions meant that few women entered craft unions. Indeed, the more women went to work, the more they aroused the anxieties of workmen who considered it their birthright to be the sole support of the household (Laurie,196.) This contributed to more prejudices against women and keeping their numbers down in the AFL. The unskil
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