Kenneth Kelley, unidentified priest, and William Belanger After six futile months of discussion, and with the deadline imposed by the national organization looming just two weeks away, the State Federation issued a report at its convention on November 23, 1955, laying out their version of the core issues. A particular sore spot for the AFL remained unstated: several AFL affiliates were under investigation, and the State Federation accused the CIO of deliberately stalling in hopes that these unions would be slapped with disciplinary action. As it happens, these fears were well founded. The State Federation's Kenneth Kelley wrote to his AFL-affiliated unions on January 3, 1958, urging them to pay their membership dues promptly in order to shore up the Federation's coffers. Behind this request is the fact that disciplinary action had cost the Federation a total of 34 locals, with almost 22,000 members, seriously eroding their bargaining power.