In 1886, the American Federation of Labor was founded, becoming the fifth national labor federation to form in the United States, following the National Labor Union, the Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor, the Colored National Labor Union, and the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions.

Nearly 50 years later, the Committee for Industrial Organization (CIO) formed within the AFL in 1935, with the intention of better representing America’s craft unions. In 1938, the CIO formally split from AFL as an independent federation.

Tensions between the AFL and CIO gummed up forward progress for member unions, primarily due to member raids between the two and a lack of progress on labor projects. The two eventually formed a “No-Raid” pact in 1954, agreeing not to try and poach member unions from each other. One year later, they decided to reunite for the good of all labor unions in the U.S.

On Dec. 5, 1955, the American Federation of Labor & Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) joined together. Today, the AFL-CIO has 60 member labor unions with 12.5 million workers, including the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE).

“We strive to ensure all working people are treated fairly, with decent paychecks and benefits, safe jobs, dignity, and equal opportunities,” the AFL-CIO says on its website. “We help people acquire valuable skills and job-readiness for the 21st century economy.”

IUOE is a member of the national federation, but AFL-CIO also has state federations, such as the Oregon AFL-CIO, which IUOE Local 701 is a member of. The state federation has over 288 member unions, with 300,000-plus union workers across the state.

“We clock in everyday to make Oregon run,” is the federation’s slogan. “We are the Oregon AFL-CIO, and we are Oregon Labor.”