The CSN developed a close relationship with the Quebec Liberal Party and worked together to reform Québec's labor law in 1965 to extend collective bargaining to government employees.

However, by the late 1960s the CSN had fallen out of favor with the provincial government as it became radicalized and threw its support behind social movements.

When negotiations failed between the Common Front and the Liberal government, the unions launched the largest general strike in Canadian history.

In both the 1973 and 1976 provincial elections, the CSN, without formally endorsing the Parti québécois, let it be known that it considered the PQ to be most closely aligned with workers' interests.

The Confederation currently has about 300,000 members, distributed evenly between men and women, and between the private and public sectors.