CIO Conventioneeers, Atlantic City, 1946? The two most powerful labor organizations in the United States during the twentieth century began as bitter rivals, adopting differing approaches to organizing American workers. Founded by Samuel Gompers in 1886, the American Federation of Labor (AFL) initially focused its efforts on craft unions and became known for a conservative "business unionism" that engaged, rather than opposed capital. During the depths of the Depression in 1935, however, several disaffected unions broke from the AFL fold to create a new and more radical group, the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), which actively pursued the mass production industries. For a time, the two faced off head to head and toe to toe, the smaller CIO forming new unions to compete directly with their AFL counterparts. In 1937, for example, the CIO founded the State, County and Municipal Workers of American (SCMWA) to oppose the AFL's American Federal State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). Separated by focus as well as politics, the two vied for supremacy over the labor movement for twenty years.

Belanger greets Walter Reuther and
George Meany at the first AFL-CIO convention
New York, December 5, 1955 To some extent, such agitation may have contributed to the surge in union membership in the 1930s and 1940s as both organizations worked to enhance ties to the political establishment and build a national political base. By the early 1950s, the leadership of both the AFL and CIO realized that a united front was necessary to achieve a stronger future for organized labor. After long discussions and abundant assurances that the autonomy of individual unions would be respected, the two organizations announced on December 5, 1955, that they would unite, unanimously electing George Meany as their first combined president. In order to hammer out all of the necessary details of membership and governance, state-level chapters were given two full years to bring the merger down the length of the membership.