Brooklyn longshoremen’s union head Tony Anastasia, in foreground, and friends. Note their “Vote ILA” buttons.

State and federal committees heard sensational testimony about labor racketeering in the Teamsters and other unions in the early 1950s. In 1953 the AF of L expelled the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), and for a time the federation supported the efforts of rank-and-file reformers.

The AF of L and the CIO sought to counter the many postwar assaults against them by merging in 1955. They issued a strong Ethical Practices Code commmitting the organization to fight corruption in any of its unions.

From the Seafarers Log.

See this image in the Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives exhibit.