twenty thousand dues-paying members. Calles wielded influence over the CROM through Morones, whom he appointed the Minister of commerce and industry. By 1928, however, Calles had become distrustful of Morones, who had presidential ambitions. He was also wary of labor's socialist interpretation of the revolution. He broke the CROM's power by ordering the federal arbitrating bureaucracies to declare all CROM strikes illegal. The CROM's leadership had become so corrupt that it had lost its influence with the rank and file and was thus unable to organize action in its favor. Calles's successor, Emilio Portes Gil, began removing CROM officials from government positions. Vicente Lombardo Toledano, a dissident in the CROM, organized a faction called "Purified CROM" that left the federation in 1932, leaving the CROM to represent only a few unions in the textile industry. The Purified CROM became the Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM) in 1936, allying with the populist President Lázaro Cárdenas and the ruling Party of the Mexican Revolution. In the following years, the CTM eclipsed the CROM. The CROM continues to exist, and is the third largest labor federation in Mexico, supporting the PRD. References Further reading Carr, Barry. El movimiento obrero y la política en México, 1910-1929. Mexico City: Secretaría de Educación Pública 1976. Guadarrama, Rocío. Los sindicatos y la política en México: La CROM (1918-1928). Mexico City: Era 1981. Leal, Juan Felipe. Agrupaciones y burocracias sindicales en México 1906/1938. Mexico City: Terra Nova 1985. Reyna Muñoz, Manuel. La CROM y la CSUM en la industria textil (1928-1932). Mexico City: Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana 1988. Tamayo, Jaime. La clase obrera en la historia de México: En el internato de Adolfo de la Huerta y el gobierno de Alvaro Obregón (1920-1924). Mexico City: Instituto de Investigaciones Sociales de UNAM 1987. Trejo Delarbe,Raúl. "The Mexican Labor Movement: 1917-1975," Latin American Perspectives, Vol. 3, No. 1 (Winter 1976), 133-153. Velasco, Miguel A. Del magonismo a la fundación dela CTM. Mexico City: Ediciones de Cultura Popular 1990. National trade union centers of Mexico Trade unions in Mexico