The Association of Catholic Trade Unionists, or ACTU, formed in founded in February 1937. The ACTU encouraged
Pope Pius XI's March 1937 anti-communist encyclical
Divini Redemptoris and promoted mainstream Catholic teachings in the
United States labor movement. It served as a hub for Catholics who opposed the growing influence of
communists and other radical trade union organizers affiliated with the
Communist Party USA. While not a union itself, the ACTU sought to "educate, stimulate, and coordinate on a Christian basis the action of the Catholic workingmen and women in the American labor movement." The ACTU played an important role in opposing left-wings in a number of unions. Such unions including the
United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) and
Transport Workers Union of America (TWUA). It played a particularly important role in building the
International Union of Electrical Workers, which split from UE. In late 1939, the ACTU described the
Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) as a "breeding nest of American Communism." Following World War II, the ACTU declined and eventually dissolved in the late 1960s. ==Notable members==