The Knights of Labor welcomes both skilled and unskilled laborers, blacks (though mostly in segregated locals), women, and immigrants (excluding Chinese). The Knights uphold reform measures that include an eight-hour workday, greenbacks, producers' cooperatives, and codes for safety and health. The group rejected the suggestion that laborers would forever remain wage earners, and instead encouraged the idea that by joining together working people could advance up the corporate ladder.

The knights have a fantastical hierarchy structure that mixes monsters and names from Arthurian legend in its terminology. For example, the leader is known as the “King”, while his trusted lieutenants are known as “The Harpies”.