The civil rights movement has often intertwined with the labor movement throughout history.
Labor union members have stood strong with those fighting for justice and equality, whether in the workplace, in government or communities. Union members believe that labor rights are human rights.
Black workers have not only played a prominent role in the labor movement throughout history, but the Black community helped shape labor into what it is today, largely due to the influence of labor and civil rights leaders A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin.
Randolph
In 1925, the American Federation of Labor (AFL) chartered the International Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, a predominantly Black labor union of Pullman railroad porters and maids that was founded by Randolph. The Brotherhood was the first historically Black union to be chartered by the federation. At that time, many other AFL affiliates had barred Black people from union membership. The Brotherhood — and Randolph — played a key role in fighting for racial and labor justice.
Rustin
Rustin, a protégé of Randolph’s, spent many years working to advance civil rights, social justice and labor rights.
The efforts of Randolph and Rustin are among those credited for President Franklin D. Roosevelt issuing an executive order in 1941 banning discrimination in the defense industry. Notably, this order did not include the armed forces; President Harry S. Truman issued an order ending discrimination in the armed forces in 1948.
When the AFL merged with the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) in 1955 to form the AFL-CIO, Randolph served as vice president.
Throughout the mid-20th century, Randolph and Rustin continued to fight for labor and racial justice, eventually forming an alliance with civil rights leader The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Randolph and Rustin are credited with pioneering many of the non-violent tactics used by King and other civil rights leaders, including voter registration, voting blocs and nonviolent confrontation.
In 1963, Randolph worked with civil rights leader Bayard Rustin to help organize the March on Washington, at which union members marched alongside civil rights activists. King delivered his iconic “I Have a Dream” address at that event.
Randolph and Rustin also helped lead a labor-civil rights alliance that eventually led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act, which helped remove many barriers to Black people voting in elections.
In 1965, Randolph and Rustin founded the A. Philip Randolph Institute (APRI) to further forge an alliance between the civil rights and labor movements.
The A. Philip Randolph Institute, an AFL-CIO constituency group that works toward social, political and economic justice for all working Americans.
More than a half century after the march and forming of the institute, the fights for racial and economic justice are as strong as ever. Today, the APRI has 107 chapters in 31 states, including chapters in New York City and Buffalo.
In recent years, APRI has worked to ensure an accurate census count, fought for racial justice amid ongoing violence against Black people and has worked on behalf of candidates who support racial and economic justice.
Brown
Clayola Brown has served as the institute’s president since 2004.
As the Movement for Black Lives gained even more prominence last year after the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and countless more Black people, labor reaffirmed its commitment to the continued fight for justice. Like many unions, the APRI has fought for justice for Black lives.
