Congress of Industrial Organizations
The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) was established in May 1938, evolving from the Committee of Industrial Organizations, which was formed within the American Federation of Labor (AFL) in 1935. This organization arose during a period of significant labor unrest and economic hardship, particularly during the Great Depression. The CIO aimed to organize industrial workers, including many unskilled laborers, women, and ethnic minorities, in contrast to the AFL's focus on skilled craft unions. Under the leadership of John L. Lewis, the CIO utilized innovative tactics such as sit-down strikes to successfully organize unions across various industries, including automotive, steel, and textiles.
The formation of the CIO marked a pivotal shift in the American labor movement, contributing to a doubling of union membership from 1932 to 1937. Unlike the AFL, which maintained a nonpartisan approach, the CIO openly aligned with President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Democratic Party. By the late 1930s, the CIO had grown to rival the AFL in size and influence. Ultimately, in 1955, the two organizations merged, consolidating their efforts to represent over 16 million workers in a changing labor landscape. The establishment and growth of the CIO significantly reshaped labor relations and unionization in the United States.
Congress of Industrial Organizations
Identification Federation of American industrial labor unions
Date Committee of Industrial Organizations founded in November, 1935; became the Congress of Industrial Organizations in May, 1938
The most successful of the early labor organizations in the United States, the American Federation of Labor (AFL) concentrated on organizing skilled workers in craft or trade unions. Controversy within the AFL over the organization of industrial workers, including those who practiced no particular craft, finally led to a schism and the creation of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) in 1938. The CIO quickly came to rival the AFL in size and influence.
Organized labor in the United States suffered greatly during the early days of the Great Depression. Even before that, the number of union members declined even during the relatively prosperous 1920’s. The passage of important labor legislation, including the Norris-La Guardia Act of 1932 and section 7a of the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933 (later incorporated into the Wagner-Connery Act of 1935), gave new impetus to the labor movement. Within the dominant labor organization, the AFL, a growing conflict existed between the traditionalists, who held to emphasizing the organization of skilled workers in craft or trade unions, and others, who wanted to organize the mass of industrial workers, which included workers who practiced no particular job specialty and were often unskilled.
This conflict led to the creation of the Committee of Industrial Organizations within the AFL in November, 1935, led by John L. Lewis, who was the head of the United Mine Workers. Lewis had also been vice president of the AFL, but he resigned when the new committee formed. Controversy within the AFL over the issue of organizing industrial workers continued for months, with the old guard leadership of the AFL charging that the Committee of Industrial Organizations was virtually setting up a competing labor federation. In the summer of 1936, the AFL expelled ten industrial unions that had aligned with the committee. By 1937, unions associated with the committee represented 3.7 million workers; combined with the 3.4 million workers in the remainder of AFL, this meant that union membership had doubled since 1932. Further contributing to tensions within the AFL was the fact that many of the workers in these new industrial unions were unskilled or semiskilled; many were women and ethnic minorities. In May, 1938, a formal break occurred, and the Committee of Industrial Organizations became a stand-alone organization known as the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). Lewis became the first head of the CIO.
Like the AFL, the CIO was an umbrella organization with many separate member unions. Besides Lewis, other significant figures during the early days of the CIO were David Dubinsky of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, Sidney Hillman of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers Union, and Charles Howard of the International Typographical Union. While the AFL had often sought to maintain a nonpartisan stance, the CIO more clearly embraced the policies of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his Democratic Party. Using new techniques such as the sit-down strike, in which workers occupied a factory or plant and refused to leave, the CIO succeeded in organizing unions in the automobile, steel, rubber, coal, textile, and electrical industries.
Impact
The creation of the CIO enlarged and broadened the labor movement in the United States and began formal union organizing among the mass of industrial workers. Combined with the prolabor reform atmosphere of the New Deal, the organization of workers in the mass-production industries created a major change in the course of American labor history. By the late 1930’s, the CIO rivaled the AFL in size. The creation of the CIO also contributed to the growing identification of organized labor with the Democratic Party. In 1955, as business and management seemed again to be taking the upper hand in labor relations in the post-World War II era, the AFL and CIO merged, creating a labor organization representing more than 16 million workers.
Bibliography
Cohen, Lizabeth. Making a New Deal: Industrial Workers in Chicago, 1919-1939. 2d ed. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
Galenson, Walter. The CIO Challenge to the AFL: A History of the American Labor Movement. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1960.
Sinyai, Clayton. Schools of Democracy: A Political History of the American Labor Movement. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 2006.