AFSCME history

1933 Frances Perkins becomes the United States secretary of labor, the first woman to be appointed to the United States Cabinet

1935 Committee for Industrial Organization (CIO) formed within the AFL

1937 Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters win contract with Pullman Co.

1938 Fair Labor Standards Act establishes first minimum wage and 40-hour week

1941 A. Philip Randolph threatens march on Washington to protest racial discrimination in defense jobs

1943 The CIO forms first political action committee to get out the union vote for President Roosevelt

1944 Nelson Cruikshank begins working for the AFL and works hard to expand or establish Social Security, Medicare and national health care

Reaction to the discontent was swift and by the end of 1947, eight states passed laws which would penalize striking public workers.

1949 The first two of 11 unions with Communist leaders are purged from the CIO

At conventions in the mid and late 1950's, AFSCME members began stressing public workers' rights and collective bargaining as a means to improve their working conditions.

He began his AFSCME career in 1958 as a member and continued as an organizer and leader in Pennsylvania.

Militancy had helped AFSCME grow but, as the 1960's drew to a close, AFSCME members' demands for fairness were met with a growing resistance by employers.

In 1961, President John Kennedy issued Executive Order 10988, which legitimized collective bargaining for federal employees and helped create a favorable atmosphere for similar demands from all public employees.

1964 Civil Rights Act bans institutional forms of racial discrimination

1965 The AFL-CIO forms A. Philip Randolph Institute

Thousands gather in Memphis to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1968 Sanitation Workers’ Strike and the assassination of Doctor Martin Luther King Jr., who was in the city to support the workers, leading a call to action for economic and social justice for all working people.

A Political Action Committee (PEOPLE) was created in the 1970's and today is one of the largest PACs in America.

1972 Coalition of Black Trade Unionists formed

1973 Labor Council for Latin American Advancement founded

1974 Coalition of Labor Union Women founded

Saunders has worked for AFSCME in many capacities since 1978, most recently as executive assistant to AFSCME Pres.

Even in the face of an onslaught against public workers (led in the 1980's by Pres.

Solidarity Day was the last major public appearance for Jerry Wurf, who died in December, 1981 after a long illness.

1989 Organizing Institute created

1990 United Mine Workers of America win strike against Pittston Coal

1992 Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance created within the AFL-CIO

1997 Pride At Work, a national coalition of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender workers and their supporters, becomes an AFL-CIO constituency group; AFL-CIO membership renewed growth

2001 Labor unions join with community allies to enact “living wage” ordinances in 76 communities across the nation

2002 The AFL-CIO forms the Industrial Union Council

2003 The AFL-CIO establishes Working America to reach out to nonunion members and mobilize workers through door-to-door canvassing in neighborhoods

2005 Change to Win holds its founding convention in St Louis, created among seven unions previously members of the AFL-CIO

2006 The AFL-CIO and the National Day Laborer Organizing Network form a partnership to collaborate with local worker centers on immigration reform and other issues

2008 The AFL-CIO establishes the Union Veterans Council