<P> The coal shortage caused sharp increases in the demand and prices of oil and industry called for voluntary price control from the oil industry . While Standard Oil was agreeable, the independent oil companies were not . Demand continued to outpace supply because of the war and the growth in automobiles in America . An appeal for "Gasolineless Sundays" in US was made with exceptions for freight, doctors, police, emergency vehicles, and funeral cars . </P> <P> The American Federation of Labor (AFL) and affiliated trade unions were strong supporters of the war effort . Fear of disruptions to war production by labor radicals provided the AFL political leverage to gain recognition and mediation of labor disputes, often in favor of improvements for workers . They resisted strikes in favor of arbitration and wartime policy, and wages soared as near - full employment was reached at the height of the war . The AFL unions strongly encouraged young men to enlist in the military, and fiercely opposed efforts to reduce recruiting and slow war production by pacifists, the anti-war Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and radical socialists . To keep factories running smoothly, Wilson established the National War Labor Board in 1918, which forced management to negotiate with existing unions . Wilson also appointed AFL president Samuel Gompers to the powerful Council of National Defense, where he set up the War Committee on Labor . </P> <P> After initially resisting taking a stance, the IWW became actively anti-war, engaging in strikes and speeches and suffering both legal and illegal suppression by federal and local governments as well as pro-war vigilantes . The IWW was branded as anarchic, socialist, unpatriotic, alien and funded by German gold, and violent attacks on members and offices would continue into the 1920s . </P> <P> The AFL membership soared to 2.4 million in 1917 . In 1919, the AFL tried to make their gains permanent and called a series of major strikes in meat, steel and other industries . The strikes ultimately failed, forcing unions back to membership and power similar to those around 1910 . </P>

How did the end of world war 1 change labor conditions in the united states