A.F. Of L. And CIO Reunite, St. Louis Follows Suit

By 1955, labor leaders needed good news, which they received when the A.F. of L. and CIO were reunited under the new AFL-CIO. Two years later, to the delight of national AFL-CIO leaders, the two St. Louis central labor bodies followed suit.  On October 31, 1957, the Central Trades and Labor Union and the Industrial Union Council came together to form the St. Louis Labor Council, AFL-CIO. The local merger resulted in the council’s having a jurisdictional area that covered only St. Louis and St. Louis County.  In 1969, the AFL-CIO approved an expansion of the council’s jurisdiction that added the counties of Jefferson, Franklin and St. Charles.  This expansion led to a name change that year for the council, which became the Greater St. Louis Labor Council, AFL-CIO.

By 1973, the council’s area also covered the counties of Phelps, Crawford, Washington, Ste. Genevieve, St. Francois and Warren, and by 1979, the counties of Lincoln and Pulaski. The local merger also opened a new chapter in the history of  the St. Louis labor movement, as the St. Louis Labor Council effected many social and labor-relations improvements that benefited the entire metropolitan area.

On the social front, the council promoted greater opportunities for minorities and women in unions and in the workplace.  The council took the lead in endorsing and supporting school bond issues, tax levies and other projects aimed at improving the quality of life for everyone in the community. The Labor Council pushed for better education, and it was instrumental in the creation of a junior college district for St. Louis and St. Louis County.

The Greater St. Louis Labor Council, AFL-CIO has many educational programs of their own. First,  the Labor Council sponsors a Committee On Political Education (COPE) that informs voters on public issues and political candidates. On the labor front, the Labor Council has served as an effective buffer between its affiliated unions and management.  Through both direct and behind-the-scenes negotiating assistance, the council has been able to avert – and has helped settle – many strikes across the metropolitan area. The Council was instrumental in creating the Regional Industrial Development Corporation (RIDC).  For the first time in the community’s long history, representatives from labor, management, industry, government and education joined forces to promote the industrial growth on both sides of the Mississippi River.  After several years, the RIDC was merged with a third entity to form today’s St. Louis Regional Commerce and Growth Association (RCGA).

Few industrial unions have had jurisdiction on both sides of the Mississippi River, as opposed to the bi-state jurisdiction of a number of building trades unions.  As a prelude to the creation of the RIDC, the Labor Council helped form the Regional Labor Council Assembly, the first organization to attempt formal regional cooperation among labor groups in Missouri and Illinois.  The assembly, although no longer functioning, fostered an understanding among unions separated by the river that continues to this day.

Finally, the Greater St. Louis Labor Council was a prime mover in the creation of the United Labor Committee of Missouri – the AFL-CIO, Teamsters, United Auto Workers and United Mine Workers – to address issues of statewide concern. The United Labor Committee was formed because of the greatest threat ever posed to organized labor in Missouri:  the infamous “right-to-work” campaign of 1978.

“Right-To-Work” Clouds Burst

The National Right-To-Work Committee targeted the state in 1977 for passage of a law that would have outlawed union shop agreements and would have taken away the rights of workers to vote democratically on whether they wanted a union shop mandated in their contract.  Labor successfully lobbied against a proposed bill in the Missouri Legislature that would have placed a “Right-To-Work” proposal in the form of a constitutional amendment on the ballot. The anti-worker forces then mounted an initiative petition drive to force the issue onto the ballot. Realizing the do-or-die threat to worker democracy, officials of all organized labor throughout the state rolled up their sleeves.  The Greater St. Louis Labor Council was chosen to focus the efforts and coordinate the activities of organized labor in the metropolitan St. Louis area. An army of volunteers that comprised a cross-section of the community fanned out to warn people of the dangerous, misleading anti-worker issue contained in the petitions.  By the summer of 1978, after the petitioners collected enough signatures to have the issue put on the ballot, the Greater St. Louis Labor Council again called on the volunteers. These volunteers – union members, labor officials, housewives, clergymen, retirees – formed a grassroots organization that worked incessantly to spread the campaign’s new battle cry: “Right-To-Work is a ripoff!”  That phrase, which was created in St. Louis, has become the rallying cry throughout the United States, wherever the evil law is introduced. Because of the Greater St. Louis Labor Council’s years of building bridges of cooperation between the unions, industry and the community, St. Louis businesses stayed neutral during the bitter campaign.  In stark contrast, the Kansas City business community was in the forefront of the “right-to-work” effort.  Kansas City businessmen actually held fundraisers to try to crush the union movement in Missouri. Early polls showed that workers and their unions would lose the battle, a fact that only intensified  their efforts.  Men, women and children – union members and non-union members alike – were informed about the issue by organized labor’s massive educational campaign, which included advertising, direct mail, door-to-door neighborhood canvassing and intensive phone banking to targeted audiences throughout Missouri.

Looking Forward

When the smoke cleared on election day – November 7, 1978 – Missouri voters had rejected the dreaded measure by a 3-2 margin.  The darkest fears of working people became the joy of their finest hour! However, organized labor had little time to bask in the victory.  The 1980 election of Ronald Regan to the  presidency ushered in an unprecedented era of union-bashing, unfair foreign competition and high unemployment.  As a result, labor has been forced to become leaner and more efficient. Nevertheless, through good times and bad, the Greater St. Louis Labor Council continues to stand in the forefront of community affairs on behalf of its union affiliates and members.

The Greater St. Louis Labor Council, which can point to a proud history of helping build the physical, economic and social structure of the community, foresees an even greater role of organized labor this new millennium.  The Labor Council will continue to play its vital role in the never-ending struggle of working people.