AFL-CIO in the context of Congress of Industrial Organizations

Labor unions represent United States workers in many industries recognized under US labor law since the 1935 enactment of the National Labor Relations Act. Their activity centers on collective bargaining over wages, benefits, and working conditions for their membership, and on representing their members in disputes with management over violations of contract provisions. Larger labor unions also typically engage in lobbying activities and electioneering at the state and federal level.

Most unions in the United States are aligned with one of two larger umbrella organizations: the AFL-CIO created in 1955, and the Change to Win Federation (Strategic Organizing Center or SOC) which split from the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) in 2005. Both advocate policies and legislation on behalf of workers in the United States and Canada, and take an active role in politics. The AFL–CIO is especially concerned with global trade issues.

The Strategic Organizing Center (SOC), formerly known as the Change to Win Federation (CtW), is a North American national trade union center originally formed in 2005 as an alternative to the AFL-CIO. The coalition is associated with strong advocacy of the organizing model. The coalition currently consists of Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the United Farm Workers (UFW), and the Communications Workers of America (CWA), the former and latter of which are affiliated with both the SOC and the AFL-CIO. Michael Zucker is currently listed as the Executive Director of the organization since 2020.

The SOC also includes SOC Investment Group, a shareholder engagement arm of the SOC that challenges management of large, publicly traded companies targeted by the SOC's campaigns.

Canvassing, also known as door knocking or phone banking, is the systematic initiation of direct contact with individuals, commonly used during political campaigns. Canvassing can be done for many reasons: political campaigning, grassroots fundraising, community awareness, membership drives, and more. Canvassing is used by political parties and issue groups to identify supporters, persuade the undecided, and add voters to the voters list through voter registration, and it is central to get out the vote operations. It is the core element of what political campaigns call the ground game or field.

Organized political canvassing became a central tool of contested election campaigns in Britain, and has remained a core practice performed by thousands of volunteers at each election there, and in many countries with similar political systems.

The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) 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 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 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 Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA, /sæɡˈæftrə/) is an American labor union formed in 2012 by the merger of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. It represents approximately 170,000 media professionals worldwide. SAG-AFTRA is a member of the AFL-CIO, the largest federation of unions in the United States. SAG-AFTRA is also a member of the International Federation of Actors.