American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations
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| Full name | American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations |
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| Founded | December 4, 1955 |
| Members | 12,741,859 (2014) |
| Affiliation | ITUC |
| Key people | Richard Trumka, president |
| Office location | Washington, D.C. |
| Country | United States |
| Website | aflcio |
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) is a national trade union center and the largest of unions in the United States. It is made up of fifty-six national and international unions, together representing more than 12 million active and retired workers. The AFL–CIO engages in substantial political spending and activism.
The AFL–CIO was formed in 1955 when the AFL and the CIO merged after a long estrangement. Membership in the union peaked in 1979, when the AFL–CIO had nearly twenty million members. From 1955 until 2005, the AFL–CIO's member unions represented nearly all unionized workers in the United States. Several large unions split away from AFL–CIO and formed the rival Change to Win Federation in 2005, although a number of those unions have since re-affiliated. The largest union currently in the AFL–CIO is the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), with approximately 1.4 million members.
The AFL–CIO is a federation of international labor unions. As a voluntary federation, the AFL–CIO has little authority over the affairs of its member unions except in extremely limited cases (such as the ability to expel a member union for corruption and enforce resolution of disagreements over jurisdiction or organizing). As of June 2014, the AFL–CIO had 56 member unions representing 12.5 million members.
The AFL–CIO was a major component of the New Deal Coalition that dominated politics into the mid-1960s. Although it has lost membership, finances, and political clout since 1970, it remains a major player on the liberal side of national politics, with a great deal of activity in lobbying, grassroots organizing, coordinating with other liberal organizations, fund-raising, and recruiting and supporting candidates around the country.
In recent years the AFL–CIO has concentrated its political efforts on lobbying in Washington and the state capitals, and on "GOTV" (get-out-the-vote) campaigns in major elections. For example, in the 2010 midterm elections, it sent 28.6 million pieces of mail. Members received a "slate card" with a list of union endorsements matched to the member's congressional district, along with a "personalized" letter from President Trumka emphasizing the importance of voting. In addition, 100,000 volunteers went door-to-door to promote endorsed candidates to 13 million union voters in 32 states.
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