The AFL-CIO

A Year of Change.

Events in 1952 had profound effects on the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), the country's two large federations of labor unions, which together represented 14.5 million of American workers. The election of President Eisenhower in November of that year brought an end to twenty years of Democratic, prolabor control of the national government. Within a

THE AMERICAN WORKER IN THE 1950S

Most Americans had moved off of the farm by 1950. Nonagricultural workers, numbering almost 52 million, constituted 83 percent of the work-force. Manufacturing led the nonfarm employers, with more than 15 million laborers. Wholesale and retail trade exceeded 9 million to hold second place. Average earnings in manufacturing in 1957 climbed above $2 per hour, almost double the 1945 level. The average family income reached $5,976 by the end...

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