  the american federation of labor and congress of industrial organizations (aflâcio) is a national trade union center, the largest federation of unions in the united states, made up of fifty-seven national and international unions,kaminski, matthew. "what labor wants." wall street journal. september 18, 2009. together representing more than 11 million workers (as of june 2008, the most recent official statistic).form lm-2 labor organization annual report. afl-cio national headquarters. file number 000-106. june 30, 2008. accessed 2009-09-19 it was formed in 1955 when the afl and the cio merged after a long estrangement. from 1955 until 2005, the aflâcio's member unions represented nearly all unionized workers in the united states. several large unions split away from aflâcio and formed the rival change to win federation in 2005 but several unions have since reaffiliated. the largest union currently in the aflâcio is the american federation of state, county and municipal employees (afscme), with more than 1.6 million members. ==membership==  the aflâcio is a federation of international labor unions. as a voluntary federation, the aflâcio has little authority over the affairs of its member unions except in extremely limited cases (such as the ability to expel a member union for corruption (art. x, sec. 17) and enforce resolution of disagreements over jurisdiction or organizing). as of october 2013, the aflâcio had 57 member unions. membership in the aflâcio is largely unrestricted. since its inception as the ame
1955_establishments_in_the_United_States 527_organizations AFLaCIO National_trade_union_centers_of_the_United_States Organizations_established_in_1955 Trade_Union_Confederation_of_the_Americas