Reprint from CIO News

Within the AFL (American Federation of Labor) in the early 1930s a strong minority faction evolved, advocating the organisation of workers in the basic mass-production industries. John L. Lewis of the United Mine Workers of America led this faction in forming a Committee for Industrial Organization in 1935. This group (changing its name in 1938 to Congress of Industrial Organizations) immediately launched organising drives in the basic industries. The CIO, under the presidency of Lewis until 1940 and then of Philip Murray until his death in 1952, followed more militant policies than the AFL. The CIO's Political Action Committee, headed by Sidney Hillman of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers Union, played an active role in the CIO's attempt to urge its membership into more active political participation. The CIO decided in 1948 to bar Communists from holding office in the organisation, and in 1949-50 it expelled 11 of its affiliated unions, which were said to be Communist-dominated. The CIO grew rapidly; in 1955 they had an estimated membership of five million. In 1955 they merged with the AFL and now called American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). “Together we win!” Reprinted article from the CIO News, Aug 27, 1945 by Philip Murray. Appeal from the Congress of Industrial Organizations against racial discrimination.  Open