The AIU attempted to wield influence upon the Democratic Party at its 1896 National Convention , dispatching a three member delegation to Chicago in July to attempt to insert three planks in the party 's electoral platform . These included such traditional Republican themes as establishment of a protective tariff to help eliminate the deleterious effects of " imported goods made by cheap foreign labor " and " honest money ... sufficient in amount to transact the business of the country " ( a euphemism for gold ) , as well as a plank calling for arbitration as a means of solving labor disputes . The actual platform only gave a minor tip of the cap to the last of these three proposals , declaring the Democrats to be " in favor of the arbitration of differences between employers engaged in interstate commerce and their employees . " Unable to join forces with the ARU and its popular leader Eugene Debs or to generate publicity through the launch of cooperative colonies , the AIU seems to have died a quiet death sometime in the second half of 1896
1896 National Convention
1896 Democratic National Convention
American Industrial Union