Born in Philadelphia, in 1899 McSorley was a founder of a local of the International Union of Wood, Wire and Metal Lathers.
[3] In 1905, McSorley was elected to the board of the Structural Building Trades Alliance.
In 1926, he left his post with the Lathers to become president of the Building Trades Department.
[2] In this role, he reorganized the Building Trades Council of Greater New York.
[2] In 1955, he was an AFL delegate to the congress of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions.