NLRB Stats Archive

NLRB Stats Archive › Annual Reports › FY1950 › Number of union-shop authorization polls and number of votes cast for participating unions during fiscal year 1950

Number of union-shop authorization polls and number of votes cast for participating unions during fiscal year 1950

printed as Table 17 · source page 248 · nlrb1950_p0248_t0

Participating unionsNumber of polls
Participating unionsNumber of pollsA. F. of L. affiliates authorizedC. I. O. affiliates authorizedUnaffiliated unions authorizedNo union shop authorized
Participating unionsNumber of pollsNumberPercentNumberPercentNumberPercentNumberPercent
Participating unionsEmployees eligible to votePercent casting valid votesValid votes cast for union shop by affiliation of petitionerValid votes cast for union shop by affiliation of petitionerValid votes cast for union shop by affiliation of petitionerValid votes cast for union shop by affiliation of petitionerValid votes cast for union shop by affiliation of petitionerValid votes cast for union shop by affiliation of petitionerValid votes cast for union shop by affiliation of petitionerValid votes cast against union shopEmployees in units authorizing union shop
Participating unionsEmployees eligible to votePercent casting valid votesTotal valid votes castA. F. of L. affiliatesC. I. O. affiliatesUnaffiliated unionsValid votes cast against union shopEmployees in units authorizing union shop
Participating unionsEmployees eligible to votePercent casting valid votesTotal valid votes castNumberPercentNumberPercentNumberPercentNumberPercentEmployees in units authorizing union shop
A POLLS
Total5,5913,23157.81,19221.395417.12143.8
A. F. of L. affiliates3,3843,23195.51534.5
C. I. O. affiliates1,2231,19297.4312.6
Unaffiliated unions98495497.0303.0
B ELIGIBLE VOTERS AND VALID VOTES CAST
Total1,072,91784.0900,866251,60627.9434,13148.2119,45213.395,67710.61,045,162
A. F. of L. affiliates312,04987.2272,101251,60692.520,4957.5307,823
C. I. O. affiliates594,93282.5490,849434,13188.456,71811.6575,187
Unaffiliated unions165,93683.1137,916119,45286.618,46413.4162,152

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30 of 30 figures sit in a row or column sum that works out.

Reader’s notes

p. 248. STRUCTURE: the crop holds one table printed as two stacked sections with DIFFERENT column structures — "A POLLS" (stub + 9 columns) and "B ELIGIBLE VOTERS AND VALID VOTES CAST" (stub + 12 columns). To keep the grid rectangular I used 13 columns (section B's width). header_rows 1-3 are section A's three heading levels and apply ONLY to the four rows between the "A POLLS" section line and the "B ELIGIBLE VOTERS AND VALID VOTES CAST" section line; header_rows 4-6 are section B's three heading levels and apply ONLY to the four rows after the "B ELIGIBLE VOTERS AND VALID VOTES CAST" section line. The two sections' column rules do not line up on the page, so column k of a section-A row is not the same printed column as column k of a section-B row. Section A rows carry "" in the last three columns, section A having only 10 columns. In section A, "Number of polls" is printed both as the standalone column immediately right of the stub and as the top-level spanner over the remaining eight columns. DECIMAL POINTS: the scan drops the decimal point in nearly every percent figure (printed as "57 8", "21 3", "95 5", "84 0", "27 9", etc.; only "4.5" shows its point clearly). I transcribed them with the decimal point. This is supported throughout: every percent group sums to 100.0 (57.8+21.3+17.1+3.8; 95.5+4.5; 97.4+2.6; 97.0+3.0; 27.9+48.2+13.3+10.6) and each percent matches its own counts (e.g. 251,606/900,866 = 27.9; 20,495/272,101 = 7.5). PERIODS: full stops in "A. F. of L." and "C. I. O." render inconsistently across the page — the section-B column heading shows "A F of L affiliates" and "C I O affiliates" with no visible points, while the row labels directly beneath them show "A. F. of L. affiliates". I transcribed the standard full-stop form throughout. The section lines "A POLLS" and "B ELIGIBLE VOTERS AND VALID VOTES CAST" are letterspaced display lines with no period visible after the letter, so I left them without one. CELLS: cells printed as dash rules ("------") are "". MARKS: a small stray ink mark sits immediately left of "88.4" (C. I. O. affiliates row, section B, C. I. O. affiliates Percent column) and immediately left of "Total" in section B; both read as dirt rather than characters or footnote markers. A speck also sits in the top margin above the section A heading. ARITHMETIC: all printed totals are internally consistent — 3,231+1,192+954+214 = 5,591; 3,384+1,223+984 = 5,591; 153+31+30 = 214; 312,049+594,932+165,936 = 1,072,917; 272,101+490,849+137,916 = 900,866; 251,606+434,131+119,452+95,677 = 900,866; 20,495+56,718+18,464 = 95,677; 307,823+575,187+162,152 = 1,045,162. No misprints detected. CROP: no footnotes are printed under the table; the table caption above the "A POLLS" section line is outside the crop.

Source image

Source page 248 of NLRB FY1950 annual report
Source: NLRB Annual Report FY1950, p. 248.

Source data: U.S. NLRB Annual Reports (public domain). Reconstruction by NLRB Stats Archive. Read by claude-opus-5 (effort max, prompt extract_v1) from the 300-dpi scan; stitched by page. Updated October 2026.