Final answer:
The AFL-CIO, while a large federation comprising over fifty different unions and representing over 10 million workers, does not include all major U.S. labor unions, making the statement false. Formed from a 1955 merger, the AFL-CIO historically has evolved in its approach to labor representation but faces contemporary challenges like declining membership and economic shifts.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) now includes all of the major U.S. labor unions is false. While the AFL-CIO is indeed a significant and large federation of independent unions, representing more than 10 million workers and comprising over fifty different unions, it does not encompass all of the major U.S. labor unions. There are others outside of its umbrella, such as the Change to Win Federation and various independent unions.
The AFL-CIO was created by the 1955 merger of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). Historically, the AFL, established in 1886 by Samuel Gompers, focused on skilled craft workers and preferred cooperation over strikes. The CIO, on the other hand, emerged as a federation that engaged in more aggressive union tactics. The merger in 1955 represented a consolidation of efforts to better serve workers' interests, but it did not eliminate other unions' existence or new ones from forming.
Post the merger, the AFL-CIO has faced challenges, including a steady decline in union membership and the shifting trends in the economy such as the rise in white-collar versus blue-collar jobs, as well as globalization effects like corporate relocation to less union-friendly environments.