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167-659: LIUNA's origins stretch back to the 19th century when local construction unions began popping up across the United States. Then, in March 1903, Samuel Gompers, the President of the American Federation of Labor (AFL), successfully persuaded various local construction unions from across the U.S. to unite in order to consolidate power in their fight against unfair labor practices. As a result, on April 13, 1903,

334-409: A New Deal platform and was effectively aided by his wife. He served as a U.S. Representative from April 10, 1937, to January 3, 1949. President Roosevelt found Johnson to be a political ally and conduit for information, particularly regarding the internal politics of Texas and the machinations of Vice President John Nance Garner and House Speaker Sam Rayburn . Johnson was immediately appointed to

501-460: A "treaty" to be presented to the forthcoming May 24, 1886, convention of the Knights of Labor, which demanded that the K of L cease attempting to organize members of International Unions into its own assemblies without permission of the unions involved and that K of L organizers violating this provision should suffer immediate suspension. For its part, the Knights of Labor considered the demand for

668-581: A Bachelor of Science in history and his certificate of qualification as a high school teacher. He briefly taught at Pearsall High School in Pearsall, Texas before taking a position teaching public speaking at Sam Houston High School in Houston. When he returned to San Marcos in 1965, after signing the Higher Education Act of 1965 , Johnson reminisced: I shall never forget the faces of

835-634: A Democrat, strongly favored labor unions. He made sure that relief operations like the Civilian Conservation Corps did not include a training component that would produce skilled workers who would compete with union members in a still glutted market. The major legislation was the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, called the Wagner Act . It greatly strengthened organized unions, especially by weakening

1002-897: A U.S. representative, he was called to active duty three days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. His first orders were to report to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations in Washington, D.C. , for instruction and training. Following his training, Johnson asked Undersecretary of the Navy James Forrestal for a job in Washington, D.C. He was instead sent to inspect shipyard facilities in Texas and on

1169-649: A conference in Philadelphia on May 18. The call stated that an element of the Knights of Labor was doing "malicious work" and causing "incalculable mischief by arousing antagonisms and dissensions in the labor movement." The call was signed by Strasser and McGuire, along with representatives of the Granite Cutters, the Iron Molders, and the secretary of the Federation of Trades of North America ,

1336-614: A day laborer. In 1926, Johnson enrolled at SWTSTC. He worked his way through school, participated in debate and campus politics, and edited the school newspaper, The College Star . The college years refined his skills of persuasion and political organization. For nine months, from 1928 to 1929, Johnson paused his studies to teach Mexican–American children at the segregated Welhausen School in Cotulla, Texas , 90 miles (140 km) south of San Antonio . The job helped him to save money to complete his education, and he graduated in 1930 with

1503-677: A desire to protect men's jobs. If women's hours could be limited, reasoned A.F. of L. officials, they would infringe less on male employment and earning potential. But the A.F. of L. also took more selfless efforts. Even from the 1890s, the A.F. of L. declared itself vigorously in favor of women's suffrage. It often printed pro-suffrage articles in its periodical, and in 1918, it supported the National Union of Women's Suffrage. Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson ( / ˈ l ɪ n d ə n ˈ b eɪ n z / ; August 27, 1908 – January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ ,

1670-464: A dispute with the Knights of Labor (K of L) organization, in which the leadership of that organization solicited locals of various craft unions to withdraw from their International organizations and to affiliate with the K of L directly, an action which would have moved funds from the various unions to the K of L. The Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions also merged into what would become

1837-545: A federal labor union. That same year workers at the Westinghouse plant in East Springfield MA, members of federal labor union 18476, struck for recognition. In 1933, the A.F. of L. received 1,205 applications for charters for federal labor unions, 1006 of which were granted. By 1934, the A.F. of L. had successfully organized 32,500 autoworkers using the federal labor union model. Most of the leadership of

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2004-553: A film and held its first national training conference. In addition, LIUNA helped hospital workers organize under the AFL–CIO's Public Employee Department in 1974. Also in that year, LIUNA signed a national agreement with Bricklayers and Masonry contractors. In 1976, LIUNA began training women to work in construction with funds from the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act . Other notable achievements for LIUNA during

2171-569: A forerunner of the A.F. of L. founded in 1881. Forty-three invitations were mailed, which drew the attendance of 20 delegates and letters of approval from 12 other unions. At this preliminary gathering, held in Donaldson Hall on the corner of Broad and Filbert Streets, the K of L was charged with conspiring with anti-union bosses to provide labor at below going union rates and with making use of individuals who had crossed picket lines or defaulted on payment of union dues. The body authored

2338-533: A great deal of influence in some cases. For example, the Chicago Federation of Labor spearheaded efforts to organize packinghouse and steel workers during and immediately after World War I. Local building trades councils also became powerful in some areas. In San Francisco , the local Building Trades Council, led by Carpenters official P. H. McCarthy , not only dominated the local labor council but helped elect McCarthy mayor of San Francisco in 1909. In

2505-492: A hostile position towards civil rights legislation like almost all other Southern Democrat legislators; voting against anti- lynching legislation, anti- poll tax legislation and the Fair Employment Practice Committee . In April 1941, incumbent U.S. Senator Morris Sheppard from Texas died. Under Texas law, a special election for a vacant Senate seat must be held within a few months of

2672-423: A majority of one (29–28). The state Democratic convention upheld Johnson. Stevenson went to court, eventually taking his case before the U.S. Supreme Court , but with timely help from his friend and future U.S. Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas , Johnson prevailed on the basis that jurisdiction over naming a nominee rested with the party, not the federal government. Johnson soundly defeated Republican Jack Porter in

2839-583: A mission similar to that of the Truman Committee in the Senate. He probed the peacetime "business as usual" inefficiencies that permeated the naval war and demanded that admirals get the job done. Johnson went too far when he proposed a bill that would crack down on the draft exemptions of shipyard workers if they were absent from work too often; organized labor blocked the bill and denounced him. Johnson's biographer Robert Dallek concludes, "The mission

3006-516: A movie camera to record conditions, and reported to Roosevelt, Navy leaders, and Congress that conditions were deplorable and unacceptable. Some historians have suggested this was in exchange for MacArthur's recommendation to award the Silver Star. He argued that the southwest Pacific urgently needed a higher priority and a larger share of war supplies. Warplanes that were sent there were "far inferior" to Japanese planes, and U.S. Navy morale there

3173-634: A pragmatic view of politics which favored tactical support for particular politicians over formation of a party devoted to workers' interests. The A.F. of L.'s leadership believed the expansion of the capitalist system was seen as the path to betterment of labor, an orientation making it possible for the A.F. of L. to present itself as what one historian has called "the conservative alternative to working class radicalism". The A.F. of L. faced its first major reversal when employers launched an open shop movement in 1903, designed to drive unions out of construction, mining, longshore and other industries. Membership in

3340-865: A slight increase during the period. The most drastic decline, by over half, has been in "mail handlers associate" members, which is the second largest category of members and the only category reported as ineligible to vote in the union. LIUNA contracts also cover some non-members, known as agency fee payers, which since 2006 have numbered comparatively less than 1% of the size of the union's membership. Agency fee payers have also fallen by about half of its reported number, although comparatively marginal throughout. As of 2013 this accounts for about 90,000 "mail handler associates" (16%), 68,000 "retirees" (12%) and 38,000 "mail handler regulars" (7%), plus less than 2,000 non-members paying agency fees, compared to about 362,000 "regular" members (65%). American Federation of Labor The American Federation of Labor ( A.F. of L. )

3507-598: A small farmhouse on the Pedernales River . He was the eldest of five children born to Samuel Ealy Johnson Jr. and Rebekah Baines. Johnson wasn't given a name until he was three months old, as his parents couldn't agree on a name that both liked. Finally, he was named after "criminal lawyer—a county lawyer" W. C. Linden, who his father liked; his mother agreed on the condition of spelling it as Lyndon. Johnson had one brother, Sam Houston Johnson , and three sisters, Rebekah, Josefa, and Lucia. Through his mother, he

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3674-521: A very few cases early in the A.F. of L.'s history, state and local bodies defied A.F. of L. policy or chose to disaffiliate over policy disputes. Though Gompers had contact with socialists and such as A.F. of L. co-founder Peter J. McGuire , the A.F. of L. adopted a philosophy of "business unionism" that emphasized unions' contribution to businesses' profits and national economic growth. The business unionist approach also focused on skilled workers' immediate job-related interests, while refusing to "rush to

3841-470: A week. Johnson was announced the winner by 87 votes out of 988,295, an extremely narrow margin. However, Johnson's victory was based on 200 "patently fraudulent" ballots reported six days after the election from Box 13 in Jim Wells County , in an area dominated by political boss George Parr . The added names were in alphabetical order and written with the same pen and handwriting, at the end of

4008-502: Is to date the only President in U.S. history to be sworn in by a woman. Johnson was convinced of the need to make an immediate show of transition of power after the assassination to provide stability to a grieving nation. He and the Secret Service , not knowing whether the assassin acted alone or as part of a broader conspiracy , felt compelled to return rapidly to Washington, D.C.; this was greeted by some with assertions that he

4175-430: The 1932 U.S. presidential election , Johnson became a lifelong supporter of Roosevelt's New Deal . Johnson was elected speaker of the "Little Congress", a group of Congressional aides, where he cultivated Congressmen, newspapermen, and lobbyists. Johnson's friends soon included aides to President Roosevelt as well as fellow Texans such as vice president John Nance Garner and congressman Sam Rayburn . In 1935, Johnson

4342-517: The 22nd Bomb Group base, which was assigned the high-risk mission of bombing the Japanese airbase at Lae in New Guinea . On June 9, 1942, Johnson volunteered as an observer for an airstrike on New Guinea. Reports vary on what happened to the aircraft carrying Johnson during that mission. MacArthur recommended Johnson for the Silver Star for gallantry in action; the citation indicated that

4509-668: The Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1960 to passage ‍—‌ the first civil rights bills to pass Congress since the Enforcement Acts and the Civil Rights Act of 1875 during Reconstruction . Johnson negotiated a middle course between Northern liberal senators and the Southern bloc of senators who had opposed such legislation by removing key enforcement provisions, such as Title III, which authorized

4676-553: The Cleveland administration during the Pullman Strike in 1894. While the A.F. of L. sought to outlaw " yellow dog contracts ", to limit the courts' power to impose "government by injunction" and to obtain exemption from the antitrust laws that were being used to criminalize labor organizing, the courts reversed what few legislative successes the labor movement won. The A.F. of L. concentrated its political efforts during

4843-529: The IBEW also pushed for FLU's to turn over their members to the authority of the craft internationals between 1933 and 1935. In 1934, one hundred FLUs met separately and demanded that the A.F. of L. continue to issue charters to unions organizing on an industrial basis independent of the existing craft union internationals. In 1935 the FLUs representing autoworkers and rubber workers both held conventions independent of

5010-671: The Immigration Act of 1924 , and seeing that they were strictly enforced. Mink (1986) concludes that the link between the A.F. of L. and the Democratic Party rested in part on immigration issues, noting the large corporations, which supported the Republicans, wanted more immigration to augment their labor force. Prohibition gained strength as the German American community came under fire. The A.F. of L.

5177-578: The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers , the Teamsters and the American Federation of Musicians , helped form the union. The A.F. of L. also used its influence, including refusal of charters or expulsion, to heal splits within affiliated unions, to force separate unions seeking to represent the same or closely related jurisdictions to merge, or to mediate disputes between rival factions where both sides claimed to represent

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5344-681: The International Ladies Garment Workers' Union . Women organized independent locals among New York hat makers, in the Chicago stockyards, and among Jewish and Italian waist makers, to name only three examples. Through the efforts of middle-class reformers and activists, often of the Women's Trade Union League , those unions joined the A.F. of L. From the beginning, unions affiliated with the A.F. of L. found themselves in conflict when both unions claimed jurisdiction over

5511-612: The Korean War began in 1950, he called for more troops and for improved weapons. Johnson ensured that every report was endorsed unanimously by his committee. He used his political influence in the Senate to receive broadcast licenses from the Federal Communications Commission in his wife's name. In the 1952 elections , Republicans won a majority in both the House and Senate. In January 1953, Johnson

5678-663: The Naval Affairs Committee . He worked hard for rural electrification , getting approval to complete the hydroelectric Mansfield Dam on the Colorado River near Austin. Johnson also sponsored projects that gave his Texas district soil conservation , public housing , lower railroad freight rates , and expanded credit for loans to farmers. He steered the projects towards contractors he knew, such as Herman and George Brown , who financed much of Johnson's future career. During this time Johnson maintained

5845-502: The Pipefitters , Machinists and Iron Workers joined through local metal workers' councils to represent a diverse group of workers. The Railway Employes' Department dealt with both jurisdictional disputes between affiliates and pursued a common legislative agenda for all of them. The A.F. of L. made efforts in its early years to assist its affiliates in organizing: it advanced funds or provided organizers or, in some cases, such as

6012-613: The Southern Caucus within the Conservative coalition that dominated the Senate. With Russell's support, Johnson won election as Democratic whip in 1951, serving in this capacity until 1953. While serving as whip, Johnson increased his ability to persuade people to reach agreement. As a member of the Senate Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce , he was chairman of the Senate subcommittee that refused

6179-511: The United States House of Representatives , he appointed Johnson as his legislative secretary. This marked Johnson's formal introduction to politics. Johnson secured the position on the recommendation of his father and that of state senator Welly Hopkins, for whom Johnson had campaigned in 1930. Kleberg had little interest in the day-to-day duties of a Congressman, instead delegating them to Johnson. After Franklin D. Roosevelt won

6346-669: The United States Supreme Court narrowly read the Act and codified the federal courts' existing power to issue injunctions rather than limit it. The court read the phrase "between an employer and employees" (contained in the first paragraph of the Act) to refer only to cases involving an employer and its own employees, leaving the courts free to punish unions for engaging in sympathy strikes or secondary boycotts. The A.F. of L.'s pessimistic attitude towards politics did not, on

6513-664: The West Coast . In the spring of 1942, President Roosevelt decided he needed better information on conditions in the Southwest Pacific , and wanted a trusted political ally to obtain it. Forrestal suggested Johnson. Roosevelt assigned Johnson to a three-man survey team covering the Southwest Pacific. Johnson reported to General Douglas MacArthur in Australia. Johnson and two U.S. Army officers went to

6680-511: The pragmatist , Gompers argued that labor should "reward its friends and punish its enemies" in both major parties. However, in the 1900s (decade), the two parties began to realign, with the main faction of the Republican Party coming to identify with the interests of banks and manufacturers, while a substantial portion of the rival Democratic Party took a more labor-friendly position. While not precluding its members from belonging to

6847-581: The 1930s the A.F. of L. began chartering these federal labor unions as an industrial organizing strategy. The dues in these federal labor unions (FLUs) were kept intentionally low to make them more accessible to low paid industrial workers; however, these low dues later allowed the Internationals in the Federation to deny members of FLUs voting membership at conventions. In 1933, Green sent William Collins to Detroit to organize automobile workers into

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7014-605: The 1970s were newly established pension plans in central and southern states, legal services for members of Louisiana local 229, and a vision center for members in Massachusetts. In 1981, LIUNA locals in New York sought to improve their benefits by offering drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs. Also, in that same year, LIUNA created the New England Laborers' Training Academy (NELTA). The purpose of NELTA

7181-587: The 2011 convention, LIUNA passed several resolutions to help invest in political activism through the organization's Political Action Committee (PAC). On June 1, 2006, O'Sullivan announced that LIUNA had disaffiliated from the AFL–CIO and joined the Change to Win Federation . However, LIUNA officials said on August 13, 2010, that the union would leave Change to Win and rejoin the AFL–CIO in October 2010. In May 2016, in

7348-423: The 250,000 member mark in 1892. The group from the outset concentrated upon the income and working conditions of its membership as its almost sole focus. The A.F. of L.'s founding convention declaring "higher wages and a shorter workday" to be "preliminary steps toward great and accompanying improvements in the condition of the working people." Participation in partisan politics was avoided as inherently divisive, and

7515-589: The A.F. of L. Both the new CIO industrial unions, and the older A.F. of L. crafts unions grew rapidly after 1935. President Franklin D. Roosevelt became a hero to them. He won reelection in a landslide in 1936, and by a closer margin in 1940. Labor unions gave strong support in 1940, compared to very strong support in 1936. The Gallup Poll showed CIO voters declined from 85% in 1935 to 79% in 1940. A.F. of L. voters went from 80% to 71%. Other union members went from 74% to 57%. Blue collar workers who were not union members went 72% to 64%. The A.F. of L. retained close ties to

7682-519: The A.F. of L. and CIO merged to form the AFL-CIO , headed by George Meany . During its first years, the A.F. of L. admitted nearly anyone. Gompers opened the A.F. of L. to radical and socialist workers and to some semiskilled and unskilled workers. Women, African Americans, and immigrants joined in small numbers. By the 1890s, the Federation had begun to organize only skilled workers in craft unions and became an organization of mostly white men. Although

7849-707: The A.F. of L. at its founding openly included women, and others passed bylaws barring women's membership entirely. The A.F. of L. hired its first female organizer, Mary Kenney O'Sullivan , only in 1892, released her after five months, and it did not replace her or hire another woman national organizer until 1908. Women who organized their own unions were often turned down in bids to join the Federation, and even women who did join unions found them hostile or intentionally inaccessible. Unions often held meetings at night or in bars when women might find it difficult to attend and where they might feel uncomfortable, and male unionists heckled women who tried to speak at meetings. Generally,

8016-516: The A.F. of L. came to dominate the Canadian union movement. The A.F. of L. vigorously opposed unrestricted immigration from Europe for moral, cultural, and racial reasons. The issue unified the workers who feared that an influx of new workers would flood the labor market and lower wages. Nativism was not a factor because upwards of half the union members were themselves immigrants or the sons of immigrants from Ireland, Germany and Britain. Nativism

8183-716: The A.F. of L. had authorized the establishment of a publication for the new organization, Gompers made use of the existing labor press to generate support for the position of the craft unions against the Knights of Labor. Powerful opinion-makers of the American labor movement such as the Philadelphia Tocsin, Haverhill Labor, the Brooklyn Labor Press, and the Denver Labor Enquirer granted Gompers space in their pages, in which he made

8350-502: The A.F. of L. lobbied Congress to reauthorize the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act , and issued a pamphlet entitled "Some reasons for Chinese Exclusion. Meat vs. Rice. American Manhood against Asiatic Coolieism. Which shall survive?". The A.F. of L. also began one of the first organized labor boycotts when they began putting white stickers on the cigars made by unionized white cigar rollers while simultaneously discouraging consumers from purchasing cigars rolled by Chinese workers. In most ways,

8517-701: The A.F. of L. mediated the dispute, usually by favoring the larger or more influential union. The A.F. of L. often reversed its jurisdictional rulings over time, as the continuing jurisdictional battles between the Brewers and the Teamsters showed. Affiliates within the AFL formed "departments" to help resolve these jurisdictional conflicts and to provide a more effective voice for member unions in given industries. The Metal Trades Department engaged in some organizing of its own, primarily in shipbuilding, where unions such as

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8684-436: The A.F. of L. political leverage to gain recognition and mediation of labor disputes, often in favor of improvements for workers. The A.F. of L. unions avoided strikes in favor of arbitration. Wages soared as near-full employment was reached at the height of the war. The A.F. of L. unions strongly encouraged young men to enlist in the military, and fiercely opposed efforts to reduce recruiting and slow war production by pacifists,

8851-415: The A.F. of L. preached a policy of egalitarianism in regard to African-American workers, it actively discriminated against them. The A.F. of L. sanctioned the maintenance of segregated locals within its affiliates, particularly in the construction and railroad industries, a practice that often excluded black workers altogether from union membership and thus from employment in organized industries. In 1901,

9018-424: The A.F. of L. surged forward in membership, that number had dipped to 1.5%. It improved to 6.6% over the next decade, but women remained mostly outside of unions and practically invisible inside of them into the mid-1920s. Attitudes gradually changed within the A.F. of L. by the pressure of organized female workers. Female-domination began to emerge in the first two decades of the 20th century, including particularly

9185-483: The A.F. of L. viewed women workers as competition, strikebreakers, or an unskilled labor reserve that kept wages low. As such, it often opposed women's employment entirely. When it organized women workers, it most often did so to protect men's jobs and earning power, not to improve the conditions, lives, or wages of women workers. In response, most women workers remained outside the labor movement. In 1900, only 3.3% of working women were organized into unions. In 1910, even as

9352-493: The A.F. of L.'s affiliated unions declined between 1904 and 1914 in the face of this concerted anti-union drive, which made effective use of legal injunctions against strikes , court rulings given force when backed with the armed might of the state. At its November 1907 Convention in Norfolk, Virginia, the A.F. of L. founded the future North America's Building Trades Unions (NABTU) as its Department of Building Trades. Ever

9519-433: The A.F. of L.'s treatment of women workers paralleled its policy towards black workers. The A.F. of L. never adopted a strict policy of gender exclusion and, at times, even came out in favor of women's unionism. However, despite such rhetoric, it only half-heartedly supported women's attempts to organize and, more often, took pains to keep women out of unions and the workforce altogether. Only two national unions affiliated with

9686-825: The American Federation of Labor. One of the organizations embroiled in this controversy was the Cigar Makers' International Union (CMIU), a group subject to competition from a dual union , a rival "Progressive Cigarmakers' Union", organized by members suspended or expelled by the CMIU. The two cigar unions competed with one another in signing contracts with various cigar manufacturers, who were at this same time combining themselves into manufacturers' associations of their own in New York City, Detroit , Cincinnati , Chicago, and Milwaukee . In January 1886,

9853-492: The American labor movement". At the same time as his vice presidential run, Johnson also sought a third term in the U.S. Senate. According to Robert Caro: Johnson won an election for both the vice presidency of the United States, on the Kennedy–Johnson ticket, and for a third term as senator (he had Texas law changed to allow him to run for both offices). When he won the vice presidency, he made arrangements to resign from

10020-698: The Canadian Licensed Practical Nurses Association. Branches of the LIUNA were found to have been infiltrated by organized crime in the 1990s. In one particular case, the Buffalo, New York wing of the Italian mafia controlled Local 210 of the LIUNA for decades. A protracted investigation into the union's operations over the course of a decade eventually drove the crime family out of the union by 2006. In 2001, members of

10187-411: The Cigar Manufacturers' Association of New York City announced a 20 percent wage cut in factories around the city. The Cigar Makers' International Union refused to accept the cut and 6,000 of its members in 19 factories were locked out by the owners. A strike lasting four weeks ensued. Just when it appeared that the strike might be won, the New York District Assembly of the Knights of Labor leaped into

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10354-446: The Democratic machines in big cities through the 1940s. Its membership surged during the war and it held on to most of its new members after wartime legal support for labor was removed. Despite its close connections to many in Congress, the A.F. of L. was not able to block the Taft–Hartley Act in 1947. Also in 1947, the union supported the strike efforts of thousands of switchboard operators by donating thousands of dollars. In 1955,

10521-439: The Federation embraced ever more closely the Democratic Party, despite the fact that many union leaders remained Republicans. Herbert Hoover in 1928 won the votes of many Protestant A.F. of L. members. The Great Depression were hard times for the unions, and membership fell sharply across the country. As the national economy began to recover in 1933, so did union membership. The New Deal of president Franklin D. Roosevelt ,

10688-462: The House, which permitted him to maintain numerous allies, including George Berham Parr , who ran a political machine in the Lower Rio Grande Valley in South Texas. U.S. Senator W. Lee O'Daniel became unpopular during his time in the Senate, and decided to forgo a bid for re-election in 1948, so Johnson began preparing for a close Senate runoff by arranging for his supporters who controlled votes, including Parr, to withhold their final tallies until

10855-753: The IHC and BLC experiences two name changes. First, in September, the union's name was changed to the International Hod Carriers and Common Laborers of America. Then, in December, the name was changed again to the International Hod Carriers' Building and Common Laborers of America. During the early 20th century, the union achieved considerable wage raises for members in Pittsburgh , New York City, New York and Chicago , and orchestrated strikes in Boston , St. Louis and Philadelphia . By 1920, membership had climbed to 96,000. The union backed calls by African American workers to be allowed full and equal status as union members, denying permission for segregated unions to be founded in Kansas City and Cincinnati . In 1929,

11022-421: The International Hod Carriers and Building Laborers' Union (IHC and BLC) was established at its founding convention in Washington D.C. At the convention there were 25 delegates from 23 unions in 17 different cities in attendance. During the course of the convention the delegates elected a General President, Herman Lilien, a General Secretary-Treasurer, Harold Stemburgh, and adopted a Declaration of Principles. Also,

11189-417: The K of L, with Terence Powderly blaming the organization's travails on "radicals" in its ranks, while those opposing Powderly called for an end to what they perceived as "autocratic leadership". In the face of the steady disintegration of its rival, the fledgling American Federation of Labor struggled to maintain itself, with the group showing very slow and incremental growth in its first years, only cracking

11356-427: The LIUNA participated in the clean up at Ground Zero in New York following the September 11 terrorist attacks . In 2003, the same year the Laborers' Union celebrated its 100th anniversary , it also spearheaded the creation of its first construction charter school. The Cranston Public Schools Construction and Career Academy is a high school that teaches students about the construction industry and how to get into it. At

11523-531: The Navy Reserve, where he was promoted to commander on October 19, 1949, effective June 2, 1948. He resigned from the Navy Reserve effective January 18, 1964. In 1948 , Johnson again ran for the U.S. Senate and won the general election after being declared winner in a highly controversial Democratic Party primary election against the well-known former governor Coke Stevenson . Johnson drew crowds to fairgrounds with his rented Sikorsky S-51 helicopter, dubbed "The Johnson City Windmill". He raised money to flood

11690-470: The New York District Assembly, however, and the latter was exonerated. The American Federation of Labor was thus originally formed as an alliance of craft unions outside the Knights of Labor as a means of defending themselves against this and similar incursions. On April 25, 1886, a circular letter was issued by Adolph Strasser of the Cigar Makers and P. J. McGuire of the Carpenters, addressed to all national trade unions and calling for their attendance of

11857-453: The Oval Office and to employ a full-time staff within the White House. In 1961, Kennedy appointed Johnson's friend Sarah T. Hughes to a federal judgeship. Johnson tried but failed to have Hughes nominated at the beginning of his vice presidency. House Speaker Sam Rayburn wrangled the appointment from Kennedy in exchange for support of an administration bill. Many members of the Kennedy White House were openly contemptuous of Johnson, including

12024-468: The President of the new federation a full-time official at a salary of $ 1,000 per year (equal to $ 33,911 today), and Samuel Gompers of the Cigar Makers' International Union was elected to the position. Gompers would ultimately be re-elected to the position by annual conventions of the organization for every year save one until his death nearly four decades later. Although the founding convention of

12191-486: The Senate and, with Democrats winning the majority in the Senate, he became majority leader . President Dwight D. Eisenhower found Johnson more cooperative than the Senate Republican leader, William F. Knowland of California. Particularly on foreign policy, Johnson offered bipartisan support to the president. Historians Caro and Dallek consider Johnson the most effective Senate majority leader ever. He

12358-427: The Senate rendered him a potential Democratic presidential candidate. James H. Rowe repeatedly urged Johnson to launch a campaign in early 1959, but Johnson thought it was better to wait, thinking that Senator John F. Kennedy 's candidacy would create a division in the ranks that could then be exploited. Johnson's strategy was to sit out the primaries and to rely on his legislative record as Senate Majority Leader ,

12525-451: The Senate, as he was required to do under federal law, as soon as it convened on January 3, 1961. Johnson was re-elected senator with 1,306,605 votes (58 percent) to Republican John Tower 's 927,653 (41.1 percent). Fellow Democrat William A. Blakley was appointed to replace Johnson, but lost a special election in May 1961 to Tower. After the election, Johnson was concerned about

12692-408: The Senate. The lieutenant governor, Coke R. Stevenson , was not in favor of prohibition, making his possible promotion to Governor a key selling point for the state's business interests in manipulating the election results. In the final vote tally, Johnson fell short by just 0.23% of the vote. While Johnson's loss in the 1941 Senate race was a stinging defeat, he did not have to give up his seat in

12859-659: The Socialist Party or working with its members, the A.F. of L. traditionally refused to pursue the tactic of independent political action by the workers in the form of the existing Socialist Party or the establishment of a new labor party. After 1908, the organization's tie to the Democratic party grew increasingly strong. Some unions within the A.F. of L. helped form and participated in the National Civic Federation . The National Civic Federation

13026-523: The South. President Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, in Dallas , Texas. Later that day, Johnson took the presidential oath of office aboard Air Force One . Cecil Stoughton 's iconic photograph of Johnson taking the oath of office as Mrs. Kennedy looks on is the most famous photo ever taken aboard a presidential aircraft. Johnson was sworn in by District Court judge Sarah T. Hughes and

13193-522: The U.S. House of Representatives in 1937. In 1948, he was controversially declared the winner in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate election in Texas before winning the general election. He became Senate majority whip in 1951, Senate Democratic leader in 1953 and majority leader in 1954. Senator Kennedy bested Johnson and his other rivals for the 1960 Democratic presidential nomination before surprising many by offering to make Johnson his vice presidential running mate. The Kennedy–Johnson ticket won

13360-558: The World and Socialist Party of America . Gompers chaired the wartime Labor Advisory Board. He attended the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 as an official advisor on labor issues. In 1920, the A.F. of L. petitioned Washington for the release of prisoners who had been convicted under Wartime Emergency Laws. Wilson did not act but President Warren Harding did so. 1919--the first year of peace--was one of turmoil in

13527-558: The anti-war Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and the radical faction of Socialists. To keep factories running smoothly, President Wilson established the National War Labor Board in 1918, which forced management to negotiate with existing unions. Wilson also appointed A.F. of L. president Gompers to the powerful Council of National Defense , where he set up the War Committee on Labor. The A. F. of L.

13694-622: The attorney general to initiate civil action for preventive relief in a wide range of civil rights matters. Being a Southerner was seen as an impossible barrier for a presidential candidate and towards the end of his Senate career as well as not signing the Southern Manifesto, he distanced himself further from the Southern Caucus in 1959 by joining the Democrat's Western regional conference. In 1960 , Johnson's success in

13861-538: The automobile and steel industries. The A.F. of L. made forays into industrial unionism by chartering federal labor unions, which would organize across an industry and be chartered by the Federation, not through existing craft unions, guilds, or brotherhoods. As early as 1923, the A.F. of L. had chartered federal labor unions, including six news writer locals that had formerly been part of the International Typographical Union . However, in

14028-442: The boys and the girls in that little Welhausen Mexican School, and I remember even yet the pain of realizing and knowing then that college was closed to practically every one of those children because they were too poor. And I think it was then that I made up my mind that this nation could never rest while the door to knowledge remained closed to any American. After Richard M. Kleberg won a 1931 special election to represent Texas in

14195-571: The breach, offering to settle with the 19 factories at a lower wage scale than that proposed by the CMIU, so long as only the Progressive Cigarmakers' Union was employed. The leadership of the CMIU was enraged and demanded that the New York District Assembly be investigated and punished by the national officials of the Knights of Labor. The committee of investigation was controlled by individuals friendly to

14362-644: The building of the Berlin Wall . He also attended Cabinet and National Security Council meetings. Kennedy gave Johnson control over all presidential appointments involving Texas, and appointed him chairman of the President's Ad Hoc Committee for Science. Kennedy also appointed Johnson Chairman of the National Aeronautics and Space Council . The Soviets beat the United States with the first crewed spaceflight in April 1961, and Kennedy gave Johnson

14529-477: The call, agreeing to form themselves into an American Federation of Labor. Revenue for the new organization was to be raised on the basis of a "per-capita tax" of its member organizations, set at the rate of one-half cent per member per month (i.e. six cents per year, equal to $ 2.03 today). Governance of the organization was to be by annual conventions, with one delegate allocated for every 4,000 members of each affiliated union. The founding convention voted to make

14696-640: The capitalists in the National Civic Federation. The A.F. of L. nonetheless continued its association with the group, which declined in importance as the decade of the 1910s drew to a close. By the 1890s, Gompers was planning an international federation of labor, starting with the expansion of A.F. of L. affiliates in Canada, especially Ontario. He helped the Canadian Trades and Labour Congress with money and organizers, and by 1902,

14863-502: The case for the unions against the attacks of employers, "all too often aided by the K of L." Headway was made in the form of endorsement by various local labor bodies. Some assemblies of the K of L supported the Cigar Makers' position and departed the organization: in Baltimore , 30 locals left the organization, while the membership of the Knights in Chicago fell from 25,000 in 1886 to just 3,500 in 1887. Factional warfare broke out in

15030-490: The challenge from the CIO. The A.F. of L. and the CIO competed bitterly in the late 1930s but then cooperated during World War II and afterward. In 1955, the two merged to create the AFL-CIO , which has comprised the longest lasting and most influential labor federation in the United States to this day. The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was organized as an association of trade unions in 1886. The organization emerged from

15197-575: The company unions that many workers belonged to. It was to the members advantage to transform a company union into a local of an A.F. of L. union, and thousands did so, dramatically boosting the membership. The Wagner Act also set up to the National Labor Relations Board , which used its powers to rule in favor of unions and against the companies. In the early 1930s, A.F. of L. president William Green (president, 1924–1952) experimented with an industrial approach to organizing in

15364-600: The craft union internationals that made up the federation, advocated for the FLU's to be absorbed into existing craft union internationals and for these internationals to have supremacy of jurisdiction. At the 1933 A.F. of L. convention in Washington, DC, John Frey of the Molders and Metal Trades pushed for craft union internationals to have jurisdictional supremacy over the FLU's; the Carpenters headed by William Hutchenson and

15531-700: The craft union internationals. By the 1935 A.F. of L. convention, Green and the advocates of traditional craft unionism faced increasing dissension led by John L. Lewis of the coal miners, Sidney Hillman of the Amalgamated , David Dubinsky of the Garment Workers , Charles Howard of the ITU , Thomas McMahon of the Textile Workers , and Max Zaritsky of the Hat, Cap, and Millinery Workers, in addition to

15698-535: The creation of Medicare and Medicaid . Johnson made the Apollo program a national priority; enacted the Higher Education Act of 1965 , which established federally insured student loans; and signed the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 , which laid the groundwork for U.S. immigration policy today. Johnson's stance on civil rights put him at odds with other white, Southern Democrats . His civil rights legacy

15865-417: The death of Samuel Gompers, UMWA member and A.F. of L. vice president William Green became the president of the labor federation. The organization endorsed pro-labor progressive Robert M. La Follette in the 1924 presidential election. He only carried his home state of Wisconsin. The campaign failed to establish a permanent independent party closely connected to the labor movement, however, and thereafter

16032-836: The delegates were able to produce the union's first charter, which claimed jurisdiction over: Wrecking of buildings, excavations of buildings, digging of trenches, piers and foundations, holes, digging, lagging, sheeting of said foundations, holes, and caisson work, concrete for buildings, whether foundations, floors or any other, whether done by hand or any other process, tending to masons, mixing and handling all materials used by masons (except stone setters), building of centers for fireproofing purposes, tending to carpenters, tending to and mixing of all materials for plastering, whether done by hand or any other process, clearing of debris from buildings, shoring, underpinning and raising of old buildings, drying of plastering, when done by salamander heat, handling of dimension stones. Nine years later, in 1912,

16199-487: The executive branch. He drafted an executive order for Kennedy's signature, granting Johnson "general supervision" over matters of national security, and requiring all government agencies to "cooperate fully with the vice president in the carrying out of these assignments". Kennedy's response was to sign a non-binding letter requesting Johnson to "review" national security policies instead. Kennedy similarly turned down early requests from Johnson to be given an office adjacent to

16366-638: The general convention in Chicago, the union created a monthly journal called The Laborer . However, the first issue of The Laborer was not published until June 1947. A few months later, in September, the union signed its first national pipeline agreement, which protected wages, benefits, and safety conditions for pipeline workers. During the 1950s, the union made significant gains concerning health and welfare benefits. For example, in 1956, laborers in Pittsburgh were able to form pension plans. Also, in 1955,

16533-469: The general election . Vice President Johnson assumed the presidency in 1963, after President Kennedy was assassinated. The following year, Johnson was elected to the presidency in a landslide , winning the largest share of the popular vote for the Democratic Party in history, and the highest for any candidate since the advent of widespread popular elections in the 1820s. Johnson's Great Society

16700-552: The general election in November and went to Washington, permanently dubbed "Landslide Lyndon". Johnson, dismissive of his critics, happily adopted the nickname. During his two terms in the Senate, Johnson drifted rightward. He felt he had to tread carefully lest he offend politically powerful conservative oil and gas interests in Texas , and in part to curry favor with the chamber's powerful southern chairmen, most notably Senator Richard Russell , Democrat from Georgia and leader of

16867-533: The genius of analogy made The Treatment an almost hypnotic experience and rendered the target stunned and helpless. In 1956, during the Suez Crisis , Johnson tried to prevent the U.S. government from criticizing Israel for its invasion of the Sinai Peninsula . Along with much of the rest of the nation, Johnson was appalled by the threat of possible Soviet domination of space exploration implied by

17034-438: The group's constitution was structured to prevent the admission of political parties as affiliates. This fundamentally conservative "pure and simple" approach limited the A.F. of L. to matters pertaining to working conditions and rates of pay, relegating political goals to its allies in the political sphere. The Federation favored pursuit of workers' immediate demands rather than challenging the property rights of owners, and took

17201-693: The head of the President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunities , where Johnson worked with African Americans and other minorities. Kennedy may have intended this to remain a nominal position, but Taylor Branch contends in his book Pillar of Fire that Johnson pushed the Kennedy administration's actions further and faster for civil rights than Kennedy originally intended. Johnson went on multiple minor diplomatic missions, which gave him some insights into global issues and opportunities for self-promotion. During his visit to West Berlin on August 19–20, 1961, Johnson sought to calm Berliners who were outraged by

17368-447: The hint of threat. It was all of these together. It ran the gamut of human emotions. Its velocity was breathtaking and it was all in one direction. Interjections from the target were rare. Johnson anticipated them before they could be spoken. He moved in close, his face a scant millimeter from his target, his eyes widening and narrowing, his eyebrows rising and falling. From his pockets poured clippings, memos, statistics. Mimicry, humor, and

17535-412: The labor movement. A.F. of L. membership soared to 2.4 million in 1917 and 4.1 million at the end of 1919. The A.F. of L. unions tried to make their gains permanent and called a series of major strikes in meat, steel and other industries. The strikes ultimately failed. Many African Americans had taken war jobs; other became strikebreakers in 1919. Racial tensions were high, with major race riots. The economy

17702-740: The last decades of the Gompers administration on securing freedom from state control of unions—in particular an end to the court's use of labor injunctions to block the right to organize or strike and the application of the anti-trust laws to criminalize labor's use of pickets , boycotts and strikes. The A.F. of L. thought that it had achieved the latter with the passage of the Clayton Antitrust Act in 1914—which Gompers referred to as "Labor's Magna Carta ". But in Duplex Printing Press Co. v. Deering , 254 U.S. 443 (1921),

17869-478: The launch of Sputnik 1 , the first artificial Earth satellite , and used his influence to ensure passage of the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 , which established NASA . Johnson helped establish the Senate Aeronautical and Space Committee , and made himself its first chairman. During his tenure as Majority Leader, Johnson did not sign the 1956 Southern Manifesto , and shepherded

18036-594: The lead... They kept changing the results, and our lead got smaller and smaller and smaller. Finally, on Wednesday afternoon, we wound up on the short side of the stick and lost the election by 1,311 votes. I'm basically responsible for losing that 1941 campaign. We let them know exactly how many votes they had to have. In addition to O'Daniel's allies, state business interests aligned with former impeached and convicted Texas Governor "Pa" Ferguson had been concerned with O'Daniel's support of prohibition as Governor; they believed that he could do much less damage to their cause in

18203-424: The leadership of an affiliated union. The A.F. of L. also chartered " federal unions ", local unions not affiliated with any international union, in those fields in which no affiliate claimed jurisdiction. The A.F. of L. also encouraged the formation of local labor bodies, known as central labor councils, in major metropolitan areas in which all of the affiliates could participate. Those local labor councils acquired

18370-628: The list of voters. Some on this part of the list insisted that they had not voted that day. Election judge Luis Salas said in 1977 that he had certified 202 fraudulent ballots for Johnson. Robert Caro made the case in his 1990 book that Johnson had stolen the election in Jim Wells County, and that there were thousands of fraudulent votes in other counties as well, including 10,000 votes switched in San Antonio . The Democratic State Central Committee voted to certify Johnson's nomination by

18537-475: The major spokesperson for the union movement. The A.F. of L. was the largest union grouping, even after the creation of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) by unions that were expelled by the A.F. of L. in 1935. The A.F. of L. was founded and dominated by craft unions , especially in the building trades. In the late 1930s, craft affiliates expanded by organizing on an industrial union basis to meet

18704-628: The matter. The actions of the New York District Assembly of the K of L were upheld. Convinced that no accommodation with the leadership of the Knights of Labor was possible, the heads of the five labor organizations which issued the call for the April 1886 conference issued a new call for a convention to be held December 8, 1886, in Columbus, Ohio , in order to construct "an American federation of alliance of all national and international trade unions." Forty-two delegates representing 13 national unions and various other local labor organizations responded to

18871-401: The members of the FLU's themselves. Lewis argued that the A.F.of L. was too heavily oriented toward traditional craftsmen, and was overlooking the opportunity to organize millions of semiskilled workers, especially those in industrial factories that made automobiles, rubber, glass and steel. In 1935 Lewis led the dissenting unions in forming a new Congress for Industrial Organization (CIO) within

19038-442: The midst of the 2016 United States presidential election , LIUNA donated US$ 1 million to Priorities USA Action , a SuperPAC which supports Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton 's 2016 presidential campaign . According to LIUNA's Department of Labor records since 2005, when membership classifications were first reported, the union's membership has been in a slow decline across all categories except "retired" members, which reports

19205-401: The mission came under attack and Johnson's aircraft experienced mechanical problems, forcing it to turn back before reaching its objective. Others claim that the aircraft turned back because of generator trouble before encountering enemy aircraft and never came under fire, an account that is supported by the aircraft's official flight records. Other airplanes that continued came under fire near

19372-531: The only ballot at the Democratic convention to Kennedy's 806, and so the convention nominated Kennedy. Tip O'Neill was a representative from Kennedy's home state of Massachusetts at that time, and he recalled that Johnson approached him at the convention and said, "Tip, I know you have to support Kennedy at the start, but I'd like to have you with me on the second ballot." O'Neill replied, "Senator, there's not going to be any second ballot." After much discussion with party leaders and others, Kennedy offered Johnson

19539-660: The other hand, prevent affiliated unions from pursuing their own agendas. Construction unions supported legislation that governed entry of contractors into the industry and protected workers' rights to pay, rail and mass production industries sought workplace safety legislation, and unions generally agitated for the passage of workers' compensation statutes. At the same time, the A.F. of L. took efforts on behalf of women in supporting protective legislation. It advocated fewer hours for women workers, and based its arguments on assumptions of female weakness. Like efforts to unionize, most support for protective legislation for women came out of

19706-404: The parcelling of the labor movement into narrow craft-based fiefdoms to be anathema, a violation of the principle of solidarity of all workers across craft lines. Negotiations with the dissident craft unions were nipped in the bud by the governing General Assembly of the K of L, however, with the organization's Grand Master Workman, Terence V. Powderly refusing to enter into serious discussions on

19873-660: The political process. In 1968, the union expanded to include over 60,000 new workers from the National Association of Post Office Mail Handlers, Watchmen, Messengers and Group Leaders. Also, the Journeyman Stone Cutters' Association of North America joined with the union as well. During the 1970s, LIUNA continued to push for improved education and training for its workers despite a slowdown in construction projects. For instance, in 1971, LIUNA's Laborers – Associated General Contractors Fund completed

20040-574: The president's brother, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy , and they ridiculed his comparatively brusque and crude manner. Then Congressman Tip O'Neill recalled that the Kennedy brothers "had a disdain for Johnson that they didn't even try to hide.... They actually took pride in snubbing him." Kennedy made efforts to keep Johnson busy and informed, telling aides, "I can't afford to have my vice president, who knows every reporter in Washington, going around saying we're all screwed up, so we're going to keep him happy." Kennedy appointed him to jobs such as

20207-588: The public became frustrated with both the Vietnam War and domestic unrest, including race riots in major cities and increasing crime. Johnson initially sought to run for re-election; however, following disappointing results in the New Hampshire primary he withdrew his candidacy . Johnson retired to his Texas ranch and died in 1973. Public opinion and academic assessments of Johnson's legacy have fluctuated greatly. Historians and scholars rank Johnson in

20374-468: The race resulted from his fear of losing. Johnson attempted in vain to capitalize on Kennedy's youth, poor health, and failure to take a position regarding McCarthyism . He had formed a "Stop Kennedy" coalition with Adlai Stevenson , Stuart Symington , and Hubert Humphrey, but it proved a failure. Despite Johnson having the support of established Democrats and the party leadership, this did not translate into popular approval. Johnson received 409 votes on

20541-858: The re-nomination of Leland Olds as Chairman of the Federal Power Commission on the grounds that he had been sympathetic towards Communism. Johnson was appointed to the Senate Armed Services Committee , and became increasingly concerned with the country's military preparedness in the Cold War with the Soviet Union . He became chairman of the Senate Preparedness Investigating Subcommittee , and conducted investigations of defense costs and efficiency. After

20708-555: The religious beliefs that his family , especially his grandfather, had shared with him. Johnson grew up poor, with his father losing a great deal of money. Biographer Robert Caro described him as being raised "in a land without electricity, where the soil was so rocky that it was hard to earn a living from it." In school, Johnson was a talkative youth who was elected president of his 11th-grade class. He graduated in 1924 from Johnson City High School , where he participated in public speaking , debate , and baseball . At 15, Johnson

20875-537: The rest of America. During the 1990s, LIUNA experienced a number of new organizing initiatives to improve and expand the union. By 1994, the United States Department of Labor had recognized construction as an apprenticeable occupation, which allowed LIUNA to establish its own apprenticeship program. In 1998, LIUNA created its Public Employee Department. As a result, LIUNA added approximately 5,200 Riverside, California County workers along members of

21042-574: The same groups of workers: both the Brewers and Teamsters claimed to represent beer truck drivers, both the Machinists and the International Typographical Union claimed to represent certain printroom employees, and the Machinists and a fledgling union known as the "Carriage, Wagon and Automobile Workers Union" sought to organize the same employees even though neither union had made any effort to organize or bargain for those employees. In some cases,

21209-563: The state with campaign circulars and won over conservatives by casting doubts on Stevenson's support for the Taft–Hartley Act (curbing union power). Stevenson came in first in the primary but lacked a majority, so a runoff election was held; Johnson campaigned harder, while Stevenson's efforts slumped due to a lack of funds. The runoff vote count, handled by the Democratic State Central Committee, took

21376-416: The statewide results were announced. By waiting until the statewide result was reported, Johnson was able to know the figure he had to surpass and so could add as many votes as necessary to his total. It would prove consequential, as Johnson would win the Democratic primary in 1948 by just 87 votes. Johnson was appointed a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve on June 21, 1940. While serving as

21543-685: The support of Southern Democrats , and the favors owed by Democratic senators to him and by Democratic representatives to his close ally Sam Rayburn, the Speaker of the House. In July 1960, Johnson finally entered the campaign. Johnson's late entry, coupled with his reluctance to leave Washington, D.C., allowed rival John F. Kennedy to secure a substantial early lead in securing support from Democratic state party officials. Johnson underestimated Kennedy's endearing charm and intelligence in comparison to his perceived crude and wheeling-dealing "Landslide Lyndon" style. Caro suggests that Johnson's hesitancy to enter

21710-403: The support of any one of the numerous society-saving or society destroying schemes" involved in larger political issues. This approach was set by Gompers, who was influenced by a fellow cigar maker (and former socialist) Ferdinand Laurrel. Despite his socialist contacts, Gompers himself was not a socialist. Employers discovered the efficacy of labor injunctions , first used with great effect by

21877-414: The target about the same time Johnson's plane was recorded as having landed back at the original airbase. Johnson's biographer Robert Caro was quoted as saying "I think that the weight of the evidence at this moment is that the plane was attacked by Zeroes and that he was cool under fire", but also "The fact is, LBJ never got within sight of Japanese forces. His combat experience was a myth." Johnson used

22044-520: The task of evaluating the U.S. space program and recommending a project that would allow the United States to catch up or beat the Soviets. Johnson recommended that the United States gain the leadership role by committing to landing an American on the Moon in the 1960s . Kennedy assigned priority to the space program, but Johnson's appointment provided cover in case of a failure. In August 1963, Johnson

22211-498: The traditionally ineffective nature of his new office and sought authority not allotted to him as vice president. He initially sought a transfer of the authority of Senate majority leader to the vice presidency, since that office made him president of the Senate, but faced vehement opposition from the Democratic Caucus, including members whom he had counted as his supporters. Johnson sought to increase his influence within

22378-465: The ultimate goals of rescuing young bodies and increasing school attendance. The frustrations included the Supreme Court striking down two national laws as unconstitutional, and weak enforcement of state laws due to the political influence of employers. The A.F. of L. and its affiliates were strong supporters of the war effort. The risk of disruptions to war production by labor radicals provided

22545-608: The union expanded to include the Tunnel and Subway Constructors' International Union of North America . Then, eight years later, the union expanded again to include the International Union of Pavers, Rammermen, Flag Layers, Bridge and Stone Curb Setters and Sheet Asphalt Pavers . However, during the Great Depression of the 1930s, membership fell to under 30,000 as more and more people lost their jobs. In 1940,

22712-664: The union helped establish the National Joint Heavy and Highway Construction Committee. The purpose of the committee was to ensure that union members could take advantage of the jobs created by the Interstate Highway Act of 1954. In 1962, the Laborers met with President John F. Kennedy at the White House to pledge not to discriminate when hiring. Later, after President Kennedy was assassinated,

22879-611: The union moved its international headquarters from Massachusetts to Washington, D.C. Also, in October of that year, union dues were suspended in support of the U.S.'s impending involvement in WWII. By 1942, despite the decline in union membership during the early years of the Great Depression, membership climbed back up to more than 400,000 – over half of which left their jobs to serve in World War II . In September 1946, at

23046-546: The union went back to the White House yet again, this time to pledge support for President Lyndon B. Johnson 's " war on poverty ". Union members even participated in Martin Luther King Jr. 's 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom . In 1965, the union was renamed the Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA). A year later, LIUNA created the Laborers' Political League in order to both influence politics and encourage its members to participate in

23213-400: The upper tier for his accomplishments regarding domestic policy. His administration passed many major laws that made substantial changes in civil rights, health care, welfare, and education. Conversely, Johnson is heavily criticized for his foreign policy, namely escalating American involvement in the Vietnam War. Lyndon Baines Johnson was born on August 27, 1908, near Stonewall, Texas , in

23380-482: The vacancy, meaning that the election would not be held during a normal November election, giving Johnson the chance to run without forfeiting his seat in the House. The election would be held without party primaries, and with no runoff, meaning that Johnson would have to compete against every Democrat — without the chance of facing the frontrunner, Governor W. Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel, in a 1-on-1 runoff election. The first pre-election polls showed Johnson receiving only 5% of

23547-487: The vice presidential nomination at the Los Angeles Biltmore Hotel on July 14, the morning after Kennedy was nominated, and Johnson accepted. From that point to the actual nomination that evening, several facts are in dispute, including whether convention chairman LeRoy Collins ' had the two-thirds majority required to begin the convention's proceedings. Kennedy's choice of Johnson as his running mate

23714-450: The vote tallies. Connally told them to report the votes, which allegedly allowed O'Daniel's political allies among the South and East Texas party bosses to know the exact number of fraudulent votes needed for O'Daniel to catch up to Johnson. According to Connally, The opposition then ‍—‌ Governor O'Daniel and his people ‍—‌ knew exactly how many votes they had to have to take

23881-481: The vote, but Johnson ran a fierce campaign, barnstorming the state and emphasizing his close relationship with President Roosevelt. On Election Day, Johnson held a strong lead in the returns throughout the whole night, and with 96 percent of the ballots counted, Johnson held a 5,000-vote lead. According to John Connally, future Governor and Johnson's campaign manager, local election officials began calling Connally's office and asking him about whether they should report

24048-499: Was "The Treatment", described by two journalists: The Treatment could last ten minutes or four hours. It came, enveloping its target, at the Johnson Ranch swimming pool, in one of Johnson's offices, in the Senate cloakroom, on the floor of the Senate itself – wherever Johnson might find a fellow Senator within his reach. Its tone could be supplication, accusation, cajolery, exuberance, scorn, tears, complaint, and

24215-399: Was a factor when the A.F. of L. even more strenuously opposed all immigration from Asia because it represented (to its Euro-American members) an alien culture that could not be assimilated into American society. The A.F. of L. intensified its opposition after 1906 and was instrumental in passing immigration restriction bills from the 1890s to the 1920s, such as the 1921 Emergency Quota Act and

24382-571: Was a great-grandson of Baptist clergyman George Washington Baines . Johnson's paternal grandfather, Samuel Ealy Johnson Sr. , was raised Baptist and for a time was a member of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) . In his later years, Samuel Sr. became a Christadelphian ; Samuel Jr. also joined the Christadelphian Church toward the end of his life. Johnson was influenced in his positive attitude toward Jews by

24549-410: Was a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL-CIO . It was founded in Columbus, Ohio , in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutual support and disappointed in the Knights of Labor . Samuel Gompers was elected the full-time president at its founding convention and was re-elected every year except one until his death in 1924. He became

24716-595: Was a temporary exposure to danger calculated to satisfy Johnson's personal and political wishes, but it also represented a genuine effort on his part, however misplaced, to improve the lot of America's fighting men." In addition to the Silver Star, Johnson received the American Campaign Medal , Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal , and the World War II Victory Medal . He was discharged from active duty on July 17, 1942, but remained in

24883-611: Was against prohibition as it was viewed as cultural right of the working class to drink. Child labor was an issue on which the A.F. of L. found common ground with middle class reformers who otherwise kept their distance. The A.F. of L. joined campaigns at the state and national level to limit the employment of children under age 14. In 1904 a major national organization emerged, the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC). In state after state reformers launched crusades to pass laws restricting child labor, with

25050-488: Was aimed at expanding civil rights, public broadcasting, access to health care, aid to education and the arts, urban and rural development, consumer protection, environmentalism, and public services. He sought to create better living conditions for low-income Americans by spearheading the war on poverty . As part of these efforts, Johnson signed the Social Security Amendments of 1965 , which resulted in

25217-533: Was appointed head of the Texas National Youth Administration , which enabled him to create government-funded education and job opportunities for young people. He resigned two years later to run for Congress. A notoriously tough boss, Johnson often demanded long workdays and work on weekends. He was described by friends, fellow politicians, and historians as motivated by lust for power and control. As Caro observes, "Johnson's ambition

25384-404: Was chosen by his fellow Democrats as Senate Minority Leader ; he became the most junior senator ever elected to this position. He reformed the seniority system so that Democratic senators, including freshmen, were more likely to receive a committee assignment that closely aligned with their expertise rather than an assignment based solely on their seniority. In 1954 , Johnson was re-elected to

25551-406: Was formed by several progressive employers who sought to avoid labor disputes by fostering collective bargaining and "responsible" unionism. Labor's participation in this federation, at first tentative, created internal division within the A.F. of L. Socialists , who believed the only way to help workers was to remove large industry from private ownership, denounced labor's efforts at cooperation with

25718-546: Was important because it gave the highway flaggers better protection for their wages. In 1988, LIUNA established the Laborers' Health and Safety Fund of North America, which was a co-venture between labor and management to help improved health and safety for workers. One year later, LIUNA locals in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., followed the example set by New York unions and instituted drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs. These programs have since been expanded to unions across

25885-470: Was in too much haste to assume power. In response to the public demand for answers and the growing number of conspiracy theories , Johnson established a commission headed by Chief Justice Earl Warren , known as the Warren Commission , to investigate Kennedy's assassination. The commission conducted extensive research and hearings and unanimously concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in

26052-499: Was intended to attract Southern votes. Kennedy was a liberal Bostonian and a Roman Catholic . Johnson was more conservative, a Southerner , and a member of the Disciples of Christ . Nevertheless, labor leaders were unanimous in their opposition to Johnson. AFL-CIO President George Meany called Johnson "the arch-foe of labor", and Illinois AFL-CIO President Reuben Soderstrom asserted Kennedy had "made chumps out of leaders of

26219-484: Was planning on dropping Johnson from the Democratic ticket in the 1964 presidential election . However, on October 31, 1963, a reporter asked if he intended and expected to retain Johnson on the ticket. Kennedy replied, "Yes to both those questions." There is little doubt that Robert Kennedy and Johnson hated each other, yet John and Robert Kennedy agreed that dropping Johnson from the ticket could produce heavy losses in

26386-563: Was poor. Johnson told Forrestal that the Pacific Fleet had a "critical" need for 6,800 additional experienced men. Johnson prepared a twelve-point program to upgrade the effort in the region, stressing "greater cooperation and coordination within the various commands and between the different war theaters". Congress responded by making Johnson chairman of a high-powered subcommittee of the Naval Affairs Committee, with

26553-521: Was shaped by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 , the Voting Rights Act of 1965 , and the Civil Rights Act of 1968 . Due to his domestic agenda, Johnson's presidency marked the peak of modern American liberalism in the 20th century. Johnson's foreign policy prioritized containment of communism, including in the ongoing Vietnam War . Johnson began his presidency with near-universal support, but his approval declined throughout his presidency as

26720-487: Was strongly committed to the national war aims and cooperated closely with Washington. It used the opportunity to grow rapidly. It worked out an informal agreement with the United States government, in which the A.F. of L. would coordinate with the government both to support the war effort and to join "into an alliance to crush radical labor groups" that opposed the war effort, especially the Industrial Workers of

26887-424: Was the 36th president of the United States , serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy , under whom he had served as the 37th vice president from 1961 to 1963. A Democrat from Texas , Johnson previously served as a U.S. representative and U.S. senator . Born in Stonewall, Texas , Johnson worked as a teacher and a congressional aide before winning election to

27054-480: Was the youngest in his class. Pressured by his parents to attend college, he enrolled at a "sub college" of Southwest Texas State Teachers College (SWTSTC) in the summer of 1924, where students from unaccredited high schools could take the 12th-grade courses needed for admission to college. He left the school just weeks after his arrival and decided to move to California. He worked at his cousin's legal practice and in odd jobs before returning to Texas, where he worked as

27221-422: Was to spread awareness of the dangers of asbestos and teach union members how to safely remove it. Then, six years later, LIUNA signed a national agreement with the Asbestos Abatement Contractors Association ensuring safer working conditions for all its members. Two years prior to that, the union won another significant victory when the Department of Labor formally recognized highway flaggers as members of LIUNA. This

27388-487: Was touched by a Senate scandal when Bobby Baker , the Secretary to the Majority Leader of the Senate and a protégé of Johnson's, came under investigation by the Senate Rules Committee for alleged bribery and financial malfeasance. One witness alleged that Baker arranged for the witness to give kickbacks for the Vice President. Baker resigned in October, and the investigation did not expand to Johnson. The negative publicity, however, fed rumors in Washington circles that Kennedy

27555-409: Was uncommon – in the degree to which it was unencumbered by even the slightest excess weight of ideology, of philosophy, of principles, of beliefs." In 1937, after the death of 13-term congressman James P. Buchanan , Johnson successfully campaigned in a special election for Texas's 10th congressional district , which included Austin and the surrounding Texas Hill Country . He ran on

27722-470: Was unusually proficient at gathering information. One biographer suggests he was "the greatest intelligence gatherer Washington has ever known", discovering exactly where every senator stood on issues, his philosophy and prejudices, his strengths and weaknesses, and what it took to get his vote. Bobby Baker claimed that Johnson would occasionally send senators on NATO trips so they were absent and unable to cast dissenting votes. Central to Johnson's control

27889-413: Was very prosperous during the war but entered a postwar recession. In general, workers lost out and the A.F. of L. lost influence. In the pro-business environment of the 1920s, business launched a large-scale offensive on behalf of the so-called " open shop ", which meant that a person did not have to be a union member to be hired. A.F. of L. unions lost membership steadily until 1933. In 1924, following

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