The AFL-CIO is a large American group made of many workers’ unions. A union is a group of workers who stand together to talk to their bosses about pay, hours, and safety. The letters stand for American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations — two older union groups that joined into one in 1955 and kept both names. People say it letter by letter: A-F-L, C-I-O. You will see it in US news when unions speak, when there is a strike, or when American politicians talk about jobs. It is not a company and not the government. Other countries have their own union groups; this name belongs to the United States.