About Us

Abridged Mission of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO:

The role of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO is to serve as the unified voice of all organized workers in the Commonwealth and to be a voice for all working people, those in unions and those not yet organized. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families—by working for economic, social and racial justice in the workplace, in our communities, our state and in our nation. Our vision is of a fair and just society that benefits all working people, not a system that’s rigged in favor of the wealthy few.

The Massachusetts AFL-CIO is one of nearly 500 state and local labor councils of the AFL-CIO and are the heart of the labor movement. We are democratically elected bodies dedicated to represent the interests of working people at the state and local level. We mobilize our members and community partners to advocate for social and economic justice and we strive daily to defeat oppression and make our communities better for all people—regardless of race, color, gender, religion, age, sexual orientation, or ethnic or national origin.

We have roots going back more than a century, with a long and proud history of fighting for justice for the Commonwealth’s workers. Formed in 1887 as the Massachusetts branch of the American Federation of Labor, and later chartered by the national AFL-CIO in 1958, the Massachusetts AFL-CIO is a union of unions, dedicated to achieving a better quality of life for working families in our commonwealth.

At the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, our mission is to build the labor movement - to join our collective power together and advance a broad social and economic justice agenda. We want an economy that benefits and reinforces the work of every individual union and worker. Our vision is of a fair and just society that benefits all working people, the organized and the not yet organized.