Economics Principles and Practices © 2012 Georgia

"Labor Unions and the AFL-CIO"

Introduction
The American Federation of Labor (AFL) began in 1886 as an organization of craft unions. Later, it added several industrial unions. The trade and industrial unions did not always agree over the future of the union movement. Consequently, eight of the AFL industrial unions formed the Committee for Industrial Organization (CIO) in 1935. In 1955, after almost twenty years of disagreement, the AFL and CIO finally settled most of their differences and joined to form the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). In this activity you will learn more about the AFL-CIO and its role in our modern economy.

Destination Title: AFL-CIO

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Directions
Start at the AFL-CIO home page.

• Click on "About Us" for information about this labor organization
• Browse through the various categories and then answer the following questions.

1			What are the goals described in the AFL-CIO's mission statement?
2			What are some of the accomplishments of the AFL-CIO?
3			Select the "Union FAQs" link on the lefthand side of the screen and read through the text on the page. What reasons are given for why people join unions?
4			Next, select the link "State & Local Union Movements" from the menu on the left. Select your state from the map. List at least two labor councils active in your state.