Prior to 1955, the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) were two distinct, separate labor organizations that had different memberships (IIRC, the AFL was more craft oriented while the CIO was focused on industrial occupation) and different political aims.
The CIO grew substanially faster than the AFL during after just after the war, before agreeing to merge with the organization it had split with only twenty years prior in forming the AFL-CIO.
So, I ask, what are the possible effects of no merger between the two? Would the AFL wither at the expense of the CIO with the growing industrial sector? How would endorsements play out (OTL, the AFL-CIO endorsed Nixon over McGovern in 1972...Would a split union movement do the same?) with regard to national politics? Is a merger inevitable, or not?
The CIO grew substanially faster than the AFL during after just after the war, before agreeing to merge with the organization it had split with only twenty years prior in forming the AFL-CIO.
So, I ask, what are the possible effects of no merger between the two? Would the AFL wither at the expense of the CIO with the growing industrial sector? How would endorsements play out (OTL, the AFL-CIO endorsed Nixon over McGovern in 1972...Would a split union movement do the same?) with regard to national politics? Is a merger inevitable, or not?