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.”
February 27 - The 1937 Woolworth Sit-Down
February 26 - The Battle at Bethlehem
February 25 - The Paterson Silk Strike Begins
February 24 - Muller v Oregon Decided
February 23 - Black Workers Lead Historic Strike at UNC
February 22 - Labelling Teachers as Terrorists
February 21 - The First Female Telephone Operator
February 20 - Angelina Grimke is Born
February 19 - Philly Street Car Workers Spark General Strike
February 18 - Anti-Slavery Begins in America
February 17 - Standing Up By Sitting Down
February 16 - The Wisconsin Uprising Begins
February 15 - The Uprising of the 20,000 Comes to a Close
February 14 - Kansas City Laundresses Walk Off the Job
February 13 - Martial Law Declared to Crush the UAW
February 12 - The NAACP is Founded
February 11 - Cutting Corners on Safety at Sequoyah I
February 10 - Forty-Three Workers Buried Alive
February 9 - Organizing Bloody Harlan
February 8 - Butte Copper Miners Join the 1919 Strike Wave
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