Seventy years after its founding, the Oregon AFL-CIO is changing its public-facing name: It will now be known as the Oregon Labor Federation.
The new name was chosen because it more clearly describes what the organization is — a federation of nearly 300 unions, not a union itself. The problem with AFL-CIO was that too few members of the general public — or even union members for that matter — knew what the initials stood for.
The AFL-CIO was formed in 1955 with the merger of two union federations, American Federation of Labor (AFL) and the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), and took its name from that combination.
The AFL-CIO is a national federation that charters state federations as well as local central labor councils. What they’re called varies a lot. Washington’s state AFL-CIO goes by Washington State Labor Council. California’s used to be called the California Labor Federation but now calls itself California Federation of Labor Unions. Idaho’s is the Idaho State AFL-CIO.
When it decided to re-brand, Oregon’s AFL-CIO went for Oregon Labor Federation instead of Oregon Federation of Labor because Oregon Federation of Labor was actually the name of the state AFL before the merger; returning to that name could have been interpreted as erasing the CIO unions.
Officially announced March 16, the new name also comes with a new logo and look that hearkens back to traditions. You’ll see the initials AFL and CIO in the logo, as well as the iconic handshake logo that has been part of the AFL’s visual signature since the 1880s. The handshake symbolizes labor unity, workers coming together for a common purpose.
