Laborers' International Union of North America. Local 157 (Schenectady, N.Y.)

The Laborers' International Union of North America was formed in April 1903 as the International Hod Carriers' and Building Laborers' Union of America from twenty-five delegates representing seventeen cities and over 8,000 laborers. By the late 1920s, a construction boom and the addition of three amalgamations added to the union's size: the International Compressed Air and Foundation Workers Union; the Tunnel and Subway Constructors International Union; and the International Union of Pavers, Rammemen, Flag Layers, Bridge and Curb Setters and Sheet Asphalt Pavers. In 1955, the union affiliated with the AFL-CIO Industrial Union Department in order to represent the 60,000 laborers working under the jurisdiction of the IUD. After the post-World War II boom, the union also began representing non-construction worker. In 1965, the union officially changed its name to the Laborers' International Union of North America to reflect its continued growth beyond the construction field. Local 157 represented laborers in Schenectady, New York and surrounding communities in the building trades. The local's early members were primarily Italian American.