The National Federation of Independent Unions (also known as the Confederated Unions of America) was a group of independent

labor unions A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

not affiliated with the

American Federation of Labor The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL-CIO. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutual ...

(AFL) or the

Congress of Industrial Organizations The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) was a federation of Labor unions in the United States, unions that organized workers in industrial unionism, industrial unions in the United States and Canada from 1935 to 1955. Originally created in ...

(CIO). It included a variety of unions, including the Mechanics' Educational Society of America (MESA), the United Brotherhood of Welders, Cutters and Helpers of America, the Western Electric Independent Labor Federation, and the National Brotherhood of Packinghouse Workers. Formed in 1942, it sought to create a voice in Washington for independent unionism, particularly on the National War Labor Board (NWLB). A split within the CUA created the National Independent Union Council. In 1963, the two organizations reunited to form the NFIU, a body with an emphasis on what they term "independent unionism": individual, independent unions with " e right to all the benefits of independence, including total autonomy ndlocal treasury control." It affiliated with the

Laborers' International Union of North America The Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA, stylized as LiUNA!), often shortened to just the Laborers' Union, is an American and Canadian labor union formed in 1903. As of 2017, they had about 500,000 members, about 80,000 of whom ...

(LIUNA),

AFL–CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a national trade union center that is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 61 national and international unions, together r ...

, under terms of extreme autonomy which allow the union to offer members the "rights, benefits and privileges of AFL–CIO membership and its Union Privilege Program" while preserving (for better or worse) their tradition of the independence and autonomy of constituent bodies. Since then, LIUNA briefly left the AFL–CIO to join the

Change to Win Federation The Strategic Organizing Center (SOC), formerly known as the Change to Win Federation (CtW), is a coalition of North American labor unions originally formed in 2005 as an alternative to the AFL–CIO. The coalition is associated with strong advoca ...

, then decided to leave Change to Win and resume affiliation with the AFL–CIO.

References

* Council Bluffs owa''Nonpareil'', July 25, 1946, p. 2 * * ''TIME'' magazine, March 10, 1958 obituary of Matthew Smith, secretary of the Mechanics Educational Society of America * *

External links

* National trade union centers of the United States Laborers' International Union of North America Trade unions established in 1942 Trade Union Confederation of the Americas {{trade-union-stub