Black Workers Give Me Hope (a precious commodity)
Since the election of Trump and the naming of his proposed Cabinet of billionaires, we’ve all started to imagine the catastrophic scenarios that workers face. Everything from passing national right to work legislation that would cripple union’s financially, to the roll back of regulation designed to protect the health and safety of workers, and the end of the enforcement of anti-discrimination, wage and hour laws is all on the table. These measures, and frankly whatever else his Trump’s group of co-conspirators cook up, will exacerbate and speed up the long decline of labor with devastating consequences for workers throughout country.
Under Trump and the rule of his billionaire corporate allies, Black workers will be targeted and are at particular risk. Black workers are disproportionately represented in low wage work and public sector union work, and have higher rates of unionization than other groups, with around 2.2 million black workers currently in unions.
History tells us Black workers have a tremendous amount of power and have the ability to play a critical role in shaping how the left simultaneously resists attacks while developing an offense that demonstrates through strategic, creative and militant action how to challenge and beat the billionaires and corporations who now dominate the politics and economy of the country. Looking back at the historic role black workers and the black liberation struggle have played in organizing unions under the most difficult conditions offers both hope and lessons of what is both needed and possible in the years ahead.
Take the case of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. In the early days of luxury train travel, the Pullman Company had a virtual monopoly. The company made its name by upgrading what was a harrowing experience — riding long distances or sleeping on trains — into a luxury one fit for Presidents, foreign dignitaries and celebrities alike. They made a tremendous profit, and at the center of this profit was the Pullman Porter. Porters were essentially personal staff for the travelers performing services like shoe shining, meal delivery, making beds and basically anything the mostly white travelers asked for. When George Pullman was hiring his staff of Porters following the Civil War, he purposely chose dark skinned black staff, many of whom were former slaves, knowing that he could exploit them for wages and that they would play into the racial stereotypes and roles of the mostly white passenger base. Unsurprisingly, the porters faced horrible treatment in every aspect of their job. Passengers referred to porters as “George” or “boy” and worse, the job required nonstop work with virtually no sleep and the pay was abysmal. And even though this all occurred during what was a golden age for labor organizations starting to stand up for the rights of the poor and working class, the fact that porters were all black at a time when Jim Crow was gaining its strong footing in the country left them mostly out of the conversation as far as major unions went.
Against all odds, aggressive union busting, racism and exclusion, the porters fought a multi-year campaign that resulted in unionization, recognition, concessions from the Pullman company and admittance into the AFL. The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters became one of the strongest black organizations in the country, and one of the most militant labor organizations as well. This quote from their incredible leader A. Phillip Randolph (with whom I am blessed to share a birth day) captures the strength of their organizing.
“As soon as we started to organize, everybody started telling us what we ought not to do. But we didn’t compromise, and we didn’t moderate, but we fought. We’re not here because anybody loves us. We are here because we pushed everybody out of our way, that’s all.”
In spite of the most aggressive of opposition, and a public who would not have expected their victory, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters kept pushing and won substantial victories that no one could have dreamed of a decade earlier.
Another striking story resonant to this theme is that of the Memphis Sanitation workers of 1968. This famous chapter of public sector organizing saw black workers, forced into action through crisis and tragedy of two of their own being killed on the job, to conduct a wildcat strike that would lead to major concessions from the city of Memphis. Memphis’ mayor Henry Loeb was an anti-union white conservative racist and segregationist. Without the support of any major union at the time, black sanitation workers quickly decided that enough was enough when two workers were crushed by a truck in the rain. Almost the entire sanitation department went out on strike. The workers’ signs of “I AM A MAN” are some of the most recognizable symbols of black struggle. Even though this strike was deemed illegal, its bravery and connection to the broader struggle fight for civil rights and economic justice captured the energy of the broader black community in Memphis and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, who came to Memphis to support the workers’ demands for dignity. While it is impossible to ignore the tragic chapter of this story, King’s assassination at a Memphis hotel on April 4th, the workers’ bravery and strategy in the face of unthinkable odds is something to aspire towards. This campaign proved to be a gateway to public sector workers organizing across the country as well as a major turning point in the Civil Rights Movement. It should be noted that the city of Memphis had several proposals to settle with the workers that came short of the wage, safety equipment, union recognition or health benefit demands the workers put forward. They persevered, capturing the spirit of the words of Dr. King when he spoke to them “Power is the ability to effect change…and I want you to stick it out so that you will be able to make Mayor Loeb and others say ‘Yes’ even when they want to say ‘No’.” The bravery of these black workers sticking it out won a major victory for all workers, and that bravery still exists in black workers today.
There are of course more examples of this push as well. In the 1960’s the hospital organizing of 1199 in the north and the south fused the goals of the Civil Rights Movement and union organizing before the healthcare industry was covered by the National Labor Relations Act. Tens of thousands of black security officers organized with SEIU in the early 2,000’s despite special exclusions in labor law that made it impossible to win a union through a labor board election. Both 1199 and the security officer unions organizing organized successfully despite having limited legal protections and in the face of firings and vicious anti-union campaigns. Most recently black workers, who represent 20.5 % of fast food workers, have been leading much of the Fight for $15 and a union. In addition to helping spark minimum wage increases all over the country the Fight for $15 has also worked with many organizations in the Movement for Black Lives to connect the struggles of oppression faced by black workers. All three of these modern examples give tremendous hope, but also show that while black workers are often the first target of labor market experiments (no benefits, shaky scheduling, banning of organizing), their leadership, resiliency and success leads to serious victories.
The victories that black workers and their organizations have led teach us valuable lessons as we develop strategies to move from defense to offense. Here are four in particularly I would like to lift up.
1) We need to reach farther than what is deemed presently acceptable and have a vision.
At any time, but perhaps especially in low periods such as the one that awaits, it is crucial to have a forward reaching vision that inspires our base. People are looking for so much more than they can achieve now and when presented with such a vision they are inspired to fight with you even in the face of losses. For example, the black leaders of the Montgomery bus boycotts were not just in a campaign to change racist bus policy, they were fighting for equality, economic justice and to end all discrimination.
2) True victory can and should be achieved through an unrelenting refusal to compromise.
In this period of attack on labor, it is important to keep pushing and not lock in pseudo and pyrrhic victory through compromise. There will be wins along the way, but we should ensure that they are truly stepping stones and not finalities. Set out what we want black work to look like and don’t stop fighting until we get there. The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, or the Black Sanitation workers from 1968 in Memphis provide great inspiration to this unwavering strength.
3) Struggle inside of labor must be attached to the realities of black workers outside of labor.
The attack on labor will not be the only attack on black folks and other marginalized groups and it will be crucial to connect the fights of workers to the fights of all people. Continued struggle alongside of the Movement for Black Lives, undocumented folks and other communities will be essential for the strength during this time. The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters saw participation in the larger Civil Rights Movement for black folks as critical to their success. The Memphis sanitation strike made this connection so strong it drew the approval and collaboration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The connections are crucial, and allows for union and community members to organize and commit with their whole selves.
4) Don’t follow the rules when they’re made by the bosses.
With a decidedly anti-labor Secretary of Labor, it is of vital importance to not get stuck by what is deemed acceptable and unacceptable by the bosses. No one can predict what we will see from our new NLRB or Department of Labor, but just because they deem something illegal or impermissible does not mean that we should stop. Now is the time to continue to break the mold.
Much of this will take a real shift from how we currently operate, but that is important and good. We’ll be in this fight for the long haul and these principles will make us stronger than we ever were. Dark times await, but so do some really important fights that we must fight. Memphis Sanitation workers paved the way for public sector bargaining with their “illegal” strike. Let’s not let whatever rules the administration concocts slow us down.
Of course, all of this argues for a massive investment in black led labor organizing. We know that black workers have the potential to be this big spark, so in this moment it is crucial to focus our energy on black leaders in labor to take their cues and make our resistance as powerful as possible. There are many years of tough struggle ahead, but I know we will get there and win.
