On this day in labor history, the year was 1869.
That was the day black workers met in Washington D.C. to found the Colored National Labor Union.
214 black trades people hoped to work towards equal representation in the workforce.
They also demanded antidiscrimination legislation, federally funded education and fulfillment of the promise of forty acres and a mule for Southern farmers.
34-year old black caulker, Isaac Myers, was elected president.
He had organized black caulkers in the Chesapeake shipyards.
Myers hoped to lead black workers into the National Labor Union, an early effort and building a national labor movement.
NLU founder William Sylvis insisted there should be no “distinction of race or nationality” among the ranks.
Myers added that white and black workers must come together in solidarity and organize for higher wages and living standards.
Many members of the NLU were not so progressive when it came to integrated unions.
Some of these organizations had whites-only clauses in their by-laws.
Others feared competition from black workers and voted not to extend membership. Myers understood the need to organize black workers.
While the NLU did not live up to its stated ideal of inclusion,
Myer’s effort welcomed all workers regardless of race, gender or occupation and represented workers across 21 states.
They were soon confronted with the full weight of resistance and hostile bosses, media and the government brought down upon them when they tried to push for reforms of any kind.
Though the CNLU soon fell into decline, black workers carried on its ideals of interracial solidarity, during the Great Strikes of 1877.
So did the new Knights of Labor who insisted, “An injury to one is an injury to all.”
December 8 - The American Federation of Labor is Founded
December 7 - Strong Arming Goldminers
December 5 - Striking in Solidarity
December 4 - Organizing to End Slavery
December 3 - Learning & Labor at Oberlin
December 2 - 21st Century Corporate Greed
December 1 - Standing Up for Themselves and Their Patients
November 30 - Angel of the Stockyards is Born
November 29 - The Fight for $15 & A Union
November 28 - Disaster in the Mines
November 27 - Death Trap in Newark
November 26 - The Birth of William Sylvis
November 25 - Chicago Printers Walk Off the Job
November 24 - The Hollywood Ten
November 23 - The Thibodaux Massacre
November 22 - Uprising of the 20,000
November 21 - Autoworkers Join the Postwar Strike Wave
November 20 - Birth of the Time Clock
November 19 - Joe Hill’s Final Words
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