Italian-American Labor Council

Italian-American labor leaders formed the Italian-American Labor Council (IALC) on December 20, 1941, ten days after Mussolini declared war on the United States. In the short-term, the IALC was to serve as a viable anti-fascist movement in America, and counter American suspicions that Italian-Americans were sympathetic to Mussolini. The larger goal of the IALC was to bring fellow Italian-Americans into the burgeoning labor movement.

During World War II, the IALC lobbied for the repeal of the Enemy Alien Act, raised funds for the Italian resistance movement, and facilitated the settlement of Italian refugees. By 1943, a rift developed within the IALC. Those who refused to work with Communists remained within the IALC; those who were willing to work with the Communists organized the Free Italy Labor Council. The factions reunited in 1958.

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