The Democratic Platform at this point was decentralized, and appealed to a broad audience, from radicals (a growing population at this point in time) to business leaders(2). .
The Depression shifted the labor market in favor of capital, and so the popularity of labor unions was restored. For unions, 1932 to 1939 proved to be an exceptional period of membership growth, with numbers soaring from less than three million in 1932 to over nine million just six years later(3). During this period, a newfound activism to be contractually bound with employers arose from the union platform. With this new focus, the terms of the agreement between the union and the employer became less important, as labor viewed a contractual bound with employers as a demonstration of power, and thus a priority. This period was also accompanied by a heightened level of political activism among the working class. With these important factors aligning in the political and labor environment, significant change was possible for the labor movement as a whole. .
With a growing percentage of the working class moving towards industrial labor, unionization of this sector became a trivial objective of the labor movement. However, despite this increase in demand, the American Federation of Labor distanced itself from unskilled labor and member diversity, while remaining almost exclusively an organization for craft and skilled labor. That is, the AFL generally shied away from industrial unionization as whole. As a result of this growing need for organization, John Lewis and a handful of other AFL leaders, such as Charles Howard of the International Typographical Union, seceded from the parent union conglomerate and established the Congress for Industrial Organization – an organization with a focus for unionizing unskilled labor. .
Perhaps the most significant contributor to the CIO's expansion of labor unionization is their inclusivity and tolerance to a vast range of traditionally ignored demographics.
