Editing AFL-CIO (section)

=== Constitutional departments ===
One of the most well-known departments was the [[Industrial Union Department]] (IUD). It had been constitutionally mandated by the new AFL-CIO constitution created by the merger of the AFL and CIO in 1955,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Collection: AFL–CIO Office of the President, State and Local Central Bodies Merger records {{!}} Archival Collections|url=https://archives.lib.umd.edu/repositories/2/resources/1473|access-date=2020-11-10|website=archives.lib.umd.edu|archive-date=November 30, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201130180154/https://archives.lib.umd.edu/repositories/2/resources/1473|url-status=live}}</ref> as CIO unions felt that the AFL's commitment to industrial unionism was not strong enough to permit the department to survive without a constitutional mandate. For many years, the IUD was a ''[[de facto]]'' organizing department in the AFL-CIO. For example, it provided money to the near-destitute [[American Federation of Teachers]] (AFT) as it attempted to organize the [[United Federation of Teachers]] in 1961. The organizing money enabled the AFT to win the election and establish its first large collective bargaining affiliate. For many years, the IUD remained rather militant on a number of issues.

There are six AFL-CIO constitutionally mandated departments:
* [[North America's Building Trades Unions]]
* [[Maritime Trades Department, AFL–CIO|Maritime Trades Department, AFL-CIO]]
* [[Metal Trades Department, AFL–CIO|Metal Trades Department, AFL-CIO]]
* [[Department for Professional Employees, AFL–CIO|Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO]]
* [[Transportation Trades Department, AFL–CIO|Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO]]
* [[Union Label Department, AFL–CIO|Union Label and Service Trades Department, AFL-CIO]]