Dallas Is First AFL-CIO Central Labor Council
The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merged in 1955.
[caption caption="The Dallas charter is dated May 1, 1956"]
According to longtime Dallas leader Jim McCasland, Dallas was the first Central Labor
Council to be chartered by the new organization. President George Meany signed the charter. Among the Vice Presidents also signing are familiar names such as Walter Reuther of the Autoworkers and Dave Beck of the Teamsters. Ruether had led the CIO before the merger.
There are many histories of the two labor federations on the internet. Wikipedia has a concise treatment, and there are many videos on YouTube. If one begins to study our history, which is labor history, one notices that it is entirely something different from the traditional "history" studied in schools. Our history is largely hidden, except for the personal interviews and remembrances of working families.
On this site, the Dallas Central Labor Council intends to summarize those remembrances of our own people.
Your participation is critical.
--Gene Lantz, January 5, 2017