The AFL-CIO Labor Union

Paper Summary:

This paper examines the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), the largest association of organized labor in the United States. The paper looks at the key issues of the organization, such as its attempt to influence politics, its position on Iraq, its focus on civil rights, its stance on immigration and its role as an umbrella organization. The paper discusses the organization's methods to achieve its goals and notes the challenges it faces in the future.

From the Paper:

"The American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is the largest association of organized labor in the United States, representing roughly 13 million of the country's estimated 16.4 million union members. It is an umbrella organization, consisting of 86 different national and international unions, and has members employed in virtually every field (Ness, 2002, p. 359). With its mission to "unify the diverse interests of organized labor into a single voice," the AFL-CIO coordinates its national program on a state and local level through state and regional branches of the organization. They have 50 state federations of labor and more than 600 central labor councils. These organizations formulate national policy and coordinate state and regional activities (Ness, 2002, p. 361). The union itself is headed by the President and the Executive Council."

Sample of Sources Used:

• American Federation of Labor (1960). History, Encyclopedia, and Reference Book (Vol. III--Part I). Washington, D.C.
• Dissent and Disconnects. (2003, March 24). The Nation, Vol. 276, Issue 11, p. 3
• Divine, R., Breen, T.H., Fredrickson, G., Williams, H., & Roberts, R (2002). America: Past and Present (5th ed., Vol. II). New York, NY: Longman Publishers
• Dort, Terrie (1996, May 6). Employers, beware: Organized labor has right idea. Nation's Restaurant News, Vol. 30, n. 18
• Etulain, R. (2002). Cesar Chavez. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's.

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