American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO)

The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a voluntary league of national labor unions representing over 13 million workers. Its mission is to bring social and economic justice to America’s workforce through political and legislative delegation. The AFL-CIO functions primarily to promote fairtrade legislation, affordable health care, quality public education, fair wages substantial enough to support a family, job safety, and retirement benefits including a pension program.
Sixty-four unions make up the AFL-CIO, some of which include the Writers Guild of America, United Farm Workers of America, United American Nurses, Transport Union of America, Seafarers International Union of North America, and Association of Flight Attendants. Delegates elected by their local union govern the AFL-CIO along with an executive council. They meet every two years at a convention where policies are made and goals are set. Officers who run the AFL-CIO operations are elected at the convention every four years. John J. Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO, was first elected in 1995.
The American labor movement began in the 1820s when skilled workers from various cities formed organizations in order to obtain better pay. National unions were formed in the 1850s when blacksmiths, machinists, printers, carpenters and other skilled laborers began a union organization named the Knights of St. Crispin. Philadelphia garment workers established the Knights of Labor, the first organized labor union to last more than a few years. Its main goals were to do away with the 10-hour workday, abolish child labor, and get equal pay for equal work.
In 1881 wage earners organized the union that became the American Federation of Labor (AFL). Samuel Gompers served as the AFL’s president from 1886 to 1894 and from 1896 to 1924 for a total of 37 years. Gompers was not as politically active as other labor leaders had been. He stressed collective bargaining to obtain higher wages and better working conditions. The AFL campaigned to encourage the public to buy goods with the “union label,” made by union employees.
Organized labor had many setbacks in the early 1900s, including violent strikes and unfavorable legislation, and union membership declined. The AFL was too conservative for those workers with a more socialist view. The union didn’t begin to gain membership again until immigration was restricted with the Immigration Act of 1924. competition for jobs decreased and the bargaining power of the work force increased.
The Great Depression forced changes in the AFL. Business leaders were no longer in favor with workers because they could not bring about an end to the depression. Political leaders developed new laws to help the nation’s economy. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal program guaranteed a minimum wage for all workers as well as the right to join unions, but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional. In 1935 the National Labor Relations Act, also known as the Wagner Act, replaced the New Deal program. It established a board with the authority to punish unfair labor practices.
The AFL formed the Committee for Industrial Organization to organize mass-production industries. Union membership quickly grew in the steel, automobile, and rubber industries. Conflicts resulted with the AFL throwing out CIO union members. The Committee for Industrial Organization then changed its name to the Congress of Industrial Organizations and established its own league of unions under the leadership of John L. Lewis.
When the United States entered World War II, labor leaders agreed not to strike for the duration of the war. Wages did not increase during this period, but “fringe benefits” were established. After World War II, unions sought large wage increases through organized strikes, and the economy boomed. The Taft-Hartley Act in 1947 established government controls over unions. AFL leader George Meany and CIO leader Walter Reuther merged the two leagues in 1955, and they became known as the AFL-CIO.
The league of unions that make up the AFL-CIO has 13 departments, including the Safety and Health Department, the Organizing Department (which assists in the recruitment and training of union organizers), the Civil and Human Rights Department, the Field Mobilization Department (which coordinates a community services sector and mobilizes thousands of members across the nation to support political action), the Corporate Affairs Department (which assists national unions in collective bargaining), and the Legislative Department (which promotes equal pay for women, part-time workers, the minimum wage, public education, Social Security, and economic policies).
The AFL-CIO goals remain much the same as they were when the AFL first was established:

• unionization of workers
  
• economic justice
  
• occupational safety and health
  
• education
  
• political lobbying

Civil rights and discrimination in all forms are also priorities of today’s AFL-CIO. Through its Committee on Political Education, the AFL-CIO encourages members to vote on Election Day. An international department assists with organized labor in other countries. Under the leadership of John J. Sweeney, the AFL-CIO is committed to advancing the welfare of its membership, actively campaigns against right-to-work laws, and continues to attempt to have the Taft-Hartley Labor Act repealed. The AFL-CIO’s plan for the next century includes a restructured labor movement, Internet access for working families, and the preservation of workers’ freedom to choose a union.
See also: American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO).