Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO)
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| Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) | |
|---|---|
| Name | Congress of Industrial Organizations |
| Founded | 1935 |
| Dissolved | 1955 |
| Headquarters | Chicago, Illinois |
| Key people | John L. Lewis; Philip Murray; Sidney Hillman; Walter Reuther |
| Merged into | American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations |
Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) was a federation of industrial unions formed in the 1930s that organized workers in mass-production industries across the United States. Originating amid conflicts involving the American Federation of Labor, the CIO rapidly engaged with labor disputes connected to United Auto Workers, United Steelworkers, and textile and mining unions, influencing New Deal labor legislation and intersecting with figures such as Franklin D. Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, John L. Lewis, and Philip Murray.
Origins and formation
The CIO emerged from disputes within the American Federation of Labor during the mid-1930s, when leaders from unions like the United Mine Workers of America and organizers associated with the Committee for Industrial Organization sought to build industrial unions in sectors represented by entities such as the Automobile Workers Organizing Committee, the Steel Workers Organizing Committee, and the Congress of Industrial Organizations precursor groups. Influences included the 1933 passage of the National Industrial Recovery Act, the 1935 decision in the National Labor Relations Act debates, and organizing models practiced by activists linked to the Communist Party USA, the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, and the CIO-aligned locals in cities such as Chicago, Detroit, and Pittsburgh.
Organization and leadership
Leadership combined prominent labor figures and regional activists. Key leaders included John L. Lewis of the United Mine Workers of America and later Philip Murray, with influential organizers like Sidney Hillman of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America and Walter Reuther of the United Auto Workers. The federation structured itself around industrial unions like the United Steelworkers, International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, and the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, operating national offices in Washington, D.C., New York City, and Chicago while coordinating with legal advocates who appeared before the National Labor Relations Board and lobbied the Roosevelt administration.
Major campaigns and strikes
The CIO led high-profile campaigns and strikes including the 1936–1937 sit-down strikes at General Motors plants in Flint, Michigan, the 1937 steel strikes involving US Steel and Bethlehem Steel, and organizing drives in the rubber industry at companies such as Goodyear and Firestone. The federation coordinated actions with unions that staged strikes in the automobile industry, coal fields under the United Mine Workers of America, and mass walkouts influenced by organizers trained in cities like Cleveland and Toledo. These campaigns intersected with decisions by the National Labor Relations Board and drew responses from corporate legal teams and state governments including administrations in Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Political activities and alliances
Politically, the CIO allied with the New Deal coalition and supported candidates aligned with Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1936 and 1940 elections, while engaging in policy battles over the Taft–Hartley Act and wartime labor directives under the War Labor Board. The federation maintained relationships with progressive organizations and sometimes contentious ties with the Communist Party USA and anti-communist labor leaders, contributing to internal purges and hearings involving figures like Senator Joseph McCarthy and committees such as the House Un-American Activities Committee. The CIO’s political machine mobilized voter registration efforts in urban centers like Chicago and New York City and worked with civil rights advocates and leaders in movements connected to A. Philip Randolph and the March on Washington planning efforts.
Membership, unions, and industry sectors
The CIO encompassed unions from heavy industry to service sectors, including the United Auto Workers, United Steelworkers, United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, International Longshoremen's Association, Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, and the Food Workers affiliates. It organized workers in the automobile industry, steel industry, textile industry, rubber industry, mining industry, and emerging electronics and electrical manufacturing plants. Membership growth in the late 1930s and 1940s reflected successful drives in metropolitan areas such as Detroit, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Chicago, and drew militants and shop stewards from locales linked to the Industrial Workers of the World tradition and ethnic communities in neighborhoods like South Side, Chicago and Harlem.
Decline, merger with the AFL, and legacy
After World War II the CIO faced internal factionalism, anti-communist purges that expelled unions like the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, and political pressures exemplified by the passage of the Taft–Hartley Act. Economic shifts in industries such as steelmaking and automobile manufacturing, combined with organizing setbacks and leadership disputes involving figures like Philip Murray and Walter Reuther, weakened the federation. In 1955 the organization reached an agreement to merge with the American Federation of Labor to form the AFL–CIO, a unification that reshaped labor representation in the United States and influenced later labor policy debates involving the Civil Rights Movement, the Great Society, and labor law reforms. The CIO’s legacy persists in the structure of industrial unions including the United Auto Workers and United Steelworkers and in scholarly discussions found in histories referencing archives in Library of Congress collections and university repositories such as those at University of Michigan and Cornell University.