| Full name | Laborers' International Union of North America |
|---|---|
| Founded | April 13, 1903 |
| Members | 632,605 (March 31, 2010)[1] |
| Country | United States, Canada |
| Affiliation | AFL-CIO |
| Key people | Terence M. O'Sullivan, General President Armand E. Sabitoni, General Secretary-Treasurer and New England Regional Manager |
| Website | www.liuna.org |
The Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA, often shortened to just the Laborers' Union) is an American and Canadian labor union formed in 1903. As of March 31, 2010, they have about 632,000 members,[1] members, about 80,000 of which are in Canada.
The current general president is Terence M. O'Sullivan who was appointed general president in 2000, elected by delegates in 2001, and re-elected in 2006. He did not face an opponent in either election. The union is divided into nine regions across North America; these regions are further divided into a total of just over 500 local unions. One region is in Canada and is led by Joseph Mancinelli.
On June 1, 2006, O'Sullivan announced that LIUNA had disaffiliated from the AFL-CIO and joined the Change to Win Federation.[2] However, LIUNA officials said on August 13, 2010, that the union would leave Change to Win and rejoin the AFL-CIO in October 2010.[3]
April 13, 1903 - The Laborers' Union was formed on April 13, 1903, initially as a building construction union, called the International Hod Carriers and Building Laborers' Union, with just over 8,000 founding members.
20th Century - During the early 20th century, the union achieved considerable wage rises for members in Pittsburgh, New York City, New York and Chicago, and orchestrated strikes in Boston, St. Louis and Philadelphia.
1920 - By 1920, membership had climbed to 96,000. The union backed calls by African American workers to be allowed full and equal status as union members, denying permission for segregated unions to be founded in Kansas City and Cincinnati.
1929 Great Depression to the 1930s - During the Great Depression of the 1930s, membership fell to under 30,000 as more and more lost their jobs, but by 1942, membership had climbed to 200,000 - over half of which left their jobs to serve in World War II.
1950s - In the early 1950s, the union was involved in some of the first worker pension plans in Chicago. 1940s - By the early 1960s, workers in California successfully struck to earn pension rights of their own -membership had now risen to 420,000, and the union renamed itself the Laborers' International Union of America.
1970s and 1980s - In the 70s and 80s, efforts were organized to enable greater rights for Latino laborers, improved education and training of all workers, and to encourage workers to look into the possibly lucrative field of asbestos removal.
1994 - By 1994, the United States Department of State had recognized construction as an apprenticeable occupation. The LIUNA were involved in the reconstruction of Interstate 10 in Los Angeles following an earthquake.
September 11, 2001 - In 2001, over 3,000 members of the LIUNA participated in the clean up at Ground Zero in New York, following the September 11 terrorist attacks.
April 13, 2003 The Laborers' Union celebrated its 100th anniversary on April 13, 2003.