Date in History : February 08, 1955
Representatives of the AFL and CIO sign an agreement to merge, beginning a long period of unity within organized labor. George Meany will lead the organization for two decades, taking labor in a generally conservative direction. “We do not seek to recast American society,” Meany says. “We seek an ever rising standard of living.”2 Big Labor gradually becomes a complacent interest group rather than a social movement.