There is not a right too long denied to which we do not aspire in order to achieve; there is not a wrong too long endured that we are not determined to abolish.

Gompers founded the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and served as the organization's president from 1886 to 1894 and from 1895 until his death in 1924. He promoted "thorough" organization and collective bargaining to secure shorter hours and higher wages the first essential steps he believed to emancipating labor.