Editing AFL-CIO (section)

=== Civil rights ===
[[File:AFL-CIO Headquarters (53844536891).jpg|thumb|300x300px|AFL-CIO headquarters in Washington, DC]]
The AFL-CIO has a long relationship with civil rights struggles. One of the major points of contention between the AFL and the CIO, particularly in the era immediately after the CIO split off, was the CIO's willingness to include black workers (excluded by the AFL in its focus on craft unionism).<ref name=Targ2010>{{cite news|last=Targ|first=Harry|title=Class and Race in the US Labor Movement: The Case of the Packinghouse Workers|url=http://www.politicalaffairs.net/class-and-race-in-the-us-labor-movement-the-case-of-the-packinghouse-workers/|access-date=2 August 2012|newspaper=Political Affairs|date=24 May 2010|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130221230916/http://www.politicalaffairs.net/class-and-race-in-the-us-labor-movement-the-case-of-the-packinghouse-workers/|archive-date=21 February 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=Sustar2012>{{cite news|last=Sustar|first=Lee|title=Socialist Worker|url=http://socialistworker.org/2012/06/28/blacks-and-the-great-depression|access-date=2 August 2012|newspaper=Blacks and the Great Depression|date=28 June 2012|quote=But the well-entrenched bureaucrats of the AFL had long used racism to keep strict control over their membership, and could not countenance the threat of a racially united rank and file.|archive-date=July 24, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120724181322/http://socialistworker.org/2012/06/28/blacks-and-the-great-depression|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Herman, Arthur. ''Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II,'' p. 184, Random House, New York, NY. {{ISBN|978-1-4000-6964-4}}.</ref> Later, black workers would also criticize the CIO for abandoning their interests, particularly after the merger with the AFL.<ref name=Hill1961>{{cite journal|last=Hill|first=Herbert|title=Racism Within Organized Labor: A Report of Five Years of the AFL–CIO, 1955- 1960|journal=The Journal of Negro Education|date=Spring 1961|volume=30|issue=2|pages=109–118|jstor=2294330|doi=10.2307/2294330}}</ref>

In 1961, [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] gave a speech titled "If the Negro Wins, Labor Wins" to the organization's convention in [[Bal Harbour, Florida]].<ref name=":0" /> King hoped for a coalition between civil rights and labor that would improve the situation for the entire working class by ending racial discrimination. However, King also criticized the AFL-CIO for its tolerance of unions that excluded black workers.<ref name=":0">{{cite book|last=Honey|first=Michael K.|title=Going down Jericho Road the Memphis strike, Martin Luther King's last campaign|year=2007|publisher=Norton|location=New York [u.a.]|isbn=978-0-393-04339-6|chapter=Dr. King, Labor, and the Civil Rights Movement|page=47|quote=He optimistically projected a coalition in which registered blacks and organized labor would vote together to improve the conditions of all Americans. Yet King did not shirk from condemning union racism, nor did Randolph and the NAACP, leading to open conflict with AFL–CIO president George Meany.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jMEm-Vlb2HUC}}</ref> "I would be lacking in honesty," he told the delegates of the 1965 Illinois AFL-CIO Convention during his keynote address, "if I did not point out that the labor movement of thirty years ago did more in that period for civil rights than labor is doing today...Our combined strength is potentially enormous, but we have not used a fraction of it for our own good or the needs of society as a whole."<ref>Soderstrom, Carl; Soderstrom, Robert; Stevens, Chris; Burt, Andrew (2018). [https://www.fortygavels.com/ ''Forty Gavels: The Life of Reuben Soderstrom and the Illinois AFL–CIO''.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930163822/https://www.fortygavels.com/ |date=September 30, 2020 }} '''3'''. Peoria, IL: CWS Publishing. pp. 261-261. {{ISBN|978-0998257532}}.</ref> King and the AFL-CIO diverged further in 1967, when King announced his opposition to the [[Vietnam War]], which the AFL-CIO strongly supported.<ref>{{cite book|last=Honey|first=Michael K.|title=Going down Jericho Road the Memphis strike, Martin Luther King's last campaign|year=2007|publisher=Norton|location=New York [u.a.]|isbn=978-0-393-04339-6|chapter=Standing at the Crossroads|page=96|quote=King's antiwar position opened a huge gap between him and the AFL–CIO, its member unions, and its president, George Meany, who strongly supported the war.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jMEm-Vlb2HUC}}</ref> The AFL-CIO endorsed the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Dubofsky|first1=Melvyn|title=The State & Labor in Modern America|date=1994|publisher=University of North Carolina Press|isbn=9780807844366|page=223|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QjOPtMWwYnYC}}</ref>

====Police violence====

In the 21st century, the AFL-CIO has been criticized by campaigners against police violence for its affiliation with the [[International Union of Police Associations]] (IUPA).<ref name=Kelly2020>{{cite news|last=Kelly|first=Kim|title=No More Cop Unions|url=https://newrepublic.com/article/157918/no-cop-unions|access-date=1 June 2020|newspaper=The New Republic|date=29 May 2020|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200530152143/https://newrepublic.com/article/157918/no-cop-unions|archive-date=30 May 2020|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release|author= <!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|title= Denouncing Police Unions: A Letter to The AFL–CIO|url= https://www.blacklivesmatterchicago.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Denouncing-Police-Unions_-A-Letter-to-The-AFL-CIO.pdf|location= California|publisher= Black Lives Matter Chicago|agency= UAW Local 2865|date= December 2017|access-date= 2020-06-01|archive-date= June 17, 2020|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200617040630/https://www.blacklivesmatterchicago.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Denouncing-Police-Unions_-A-Letter-to-The-AFL-CIO.pdf|url-status= live}}</ref> On May 31, 2020, the AFL-CIO offices in [[Washington, DC]], were set on fire during the [[George Floyd protests]] taking place in the city.<ref name=Gangitano2020>{{cite news|last=Gangitano|first=Alex|title=AFL-CIO: Attack on headquarters during night of protests 'disgraceful'|url=https://thehill.com/homenews/500411-afl-cio-attack-on-building-during-night-of-protests-disgraceful|access-date=2020-06-01|newspaper=The Hill|date=2020-06-01|archive-date=June 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200607043751/https://thehill.com/homenews/500411-afl-cio-attack-on-building-during-night-of-protests-disgraceful|url-status=live}}</ref> In response, AFL-CIO president [[Richard Trumka]] condemned both the [[murder of George Floyd]] and the destruction of the offices, but did not address demands to end the organization's affiliation with the IUPA.<ref>{{cite press release|author=Richard Trumka|title=Trumka on AFL–CIO Building and Justice for George Floyd|url=https://aflcio.org/press/releases/trumka-afl-cio-building-and-justice-george-floyd|location=Washington|publisher=AFL–CIO|date=2020-06-01|access-date=2020-06-01|archive-date=June 3, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200603040609/https://aflcio.org/press/releases/trumka-afl-cio-building-and-justice-george-floyd|url-status=live}}</ref>