<Tr> <Th> Country </Th> <Td> United States </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Website </Th> <Td> aflcio.org </Td> </Tr> <P> The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL - CIO) is the largest federation of unions in the United States . It is made up of fifty - six national and international unions, together representing more than 12 million active and retired workers . The AFL - CIO engages in substantial political spending and activism, typically in support of Democrats and liberal or progressive policies . </P> <P> The AFL - CIO was formed in 1955 when the AFL and the CIO merged after a long estrangement . Membership in the union peaked in 1979, when the AFL - CIO had nearly twenty million members . From 1955 until 2005, the AFL - CIO's member unions represented nearly all unionized workers in the United States . Several large unions split away from AFL - CIO and formed the rival Change to Win Federation in 2005, although a number of those unions have since re-affiliated . The largest union currently in the AFL - CIO is the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), with approximately 1.4 million members . </P>

The afl-cio is considered what type of group