The American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a federation of approximately 130 autonomous national and international unions created by the merger of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) in December 1955. More than 80 percent of union members in the United States are members of unions affiliated with the AF-CIO. The initials AFL-CIO after the name of a union indicate that the union is an affiliate.
At the state level, 51 state federations (including Puerto Rico's) coordinate with local unions and together give working families a voice in every state capital through political and legislative activity. The state federations are led by officers and boards elected by delegates from local unions and are chartered by the national AFL-CIO.
